"No!," Emily screamed as she felt the ground give out from underneath her and she reached out blindly to find something, anything, to hold on to.

And almost cried as her hand hooked on to a rock that jutted out just a few inches from the dirt.

Her feet dangling before her, Emily tried to find some kind of foothold but every time her feet found some place to dig in, the soil would crumble and disintegrate.

She heard a scream and saw Juan hit a ledge about fifteen feet down the cliff from where she was.

For a moment, she found herself hoping ferociously that he was dead and then stopped thinking about Juan and began to focus on herself.

Especially as she realized that the rock she was holding onto was slowly coming loose.

How many times could one cheat death before death finally won? Emily had a sick feeling that she was about to find out.

Any second.

"Help!" She screamed as loud as she could which wasn't that loud since she had a feeling that Juan had broken a rib when he kicked her earlier.

There was no response. She moved her head carefully and looked up, the distance between the top and where she was couldn't be more than two feet at the most, but with nothing to hang on to it might as well have been two miles.

I wonder if it will hurt. I wish I could have had a chance to say good-bye.

"Emily?"

She looked up at the sound of her name.

"Liz? Oh thank God Liz you have to help me. I can't hold on much longer."

"I can't help you." Liz's voice sounded uncertain and shaky.

Emily remembered all that Liz had done to hurt her and for a moment she was ready to give up, but she couldn't. What was it grandfather kept yelling at AJ about? Don't give up until you exercise all of your options. She still had some options left to exercise.

"Liz please. We were friends once, best friends remember. Remember when it was you and me and Lucky and Nik. The four musketeers, remember?"

"I remember but....." Liz bit her lip to stop the multitude of voices that were yelling at her, telling her what to do. "You took Nikolas from me."

"Nikolas loves me. He never loved you Liz, never. It was all about Lucky. Nikolas loves me." I just wish I had the chance to tell him that I believe in him. Or more importantly I believe in myself.

"I need Nikolas. I'm sorry Emily, I never meant for you to be hurt but I need Nikolas."

How had Liz gone crazy and no one noticed? Poor Liz. Emily could almost feel sorry for.

Almost but not quite.

"Liz. Please. You don't want to do this. Even if something happened to me, Nikolas would never be yours."

"He will be. I know he will be." A pause. "Lucky promised he would always be there for me."

"Lucky? Oh God Liz Lucky is dead. He died in the fire, remember."

"That's why I have to hold onto Nikolas no matter what. Nikolas is all I have left of Lucky. Nikolas will take care of me always just like Lucky promised he would." Another pause. "As long as I have Nikolas I still have a part of Lucky to love."

Emily bit back the wave of nausea. If she only had a few moments to live, she wasn't going to spend them throwing up. "Liz...please. Please help me. I don't want to die."

Silence.

"Please Liz. Please." Emily blinked away tears. "I promise not to get between you and Nikolas if you just help me up. I can't hold on much longer."

"I can't help you Emily. As long as you're alive, Nikolas and I can't be together. I know that Nikolas belongs to me. Lucky gave him to me."

"No Liz. You're wrong. Lucky couldn't give you Nikolas. Lucky's dead. And Nikolas belongs to me. He always has." Oh great Emily, make her mad. You might as well just let go now. She took a deep breath and tried another tactic. "Nikolas will hate you when he realizes that you let me die."

"No he won't. He loves me. We're soul mates."

Emily shuddered, not sure that even Liz knew if she was speaking of Nikolas or Lucky.

Liz wasn't going to help her. She was going to die. She could hold on to the rock for another minute, maybe a little more but then.....

Please God I don't want to die. Mom. Please. Lucky. Please. She closed her eyes and stopped praying for herself and simply prayed really hard that the people she loved would always know how much they meant to her.

Especially Nikolas.

Always Nikolas.

She opened her eyes again as she realized what her death would do to Nikolas. He'd already been through so much. His strained relationship with Laura. Lucky's death.

He'd blame himself for her death. He'd lock himself up behind that stiff wall of Cassadine reserve and he'd go back to being what he was before they had met.

Only worse. He'd be THE Cassadine and he'd finally really be A Cassadine.

The Nikolas who made angels in a snow filled meadow would be gone. The Nikolas who showed up at her window at midnight with a six pack of diet Pepsi and a cheese pizza to keep her company as she studied for her senior finals would be gone.

The Nikolas Cassadine who loved her would be gone.

She couldn't let that happen. Wouldn't.

Digging her fingernails into the rock that she was holding on to, she used every last bit of her strength to give herself a few more minutes while her mind raced crazily trying to say something that would convince Liz to help her.

Liz hadn't walked away yet. She could have and she hadn't. At least not yet. That had to mean something.

"Liz."

No response for a long moment and then a muffled sound.

"I miss him too."

Silence.

"He was my best friend you know. He was there for me when my mom died and I was all alone and scared to death of the Quartermaines. There were times when I didn't have anyone but I always had him. He saved me, you know? He was good and kind and strong and everything I wanted to be. Sometimes just looking at him would make me feel better because I knew that no matter what, no matter how badly I screwed up, he would be there for me."

"He shouldn't have died."

"No he shouldn't have."

"I love him."

"I know. So do I."

"I miss him."

Emily could feel the rock begin to slip.

"Do you know what Lucky told me after my mom died? He said that she wasn't really gone, not really. Her body was gone but her love for me and my love for her was still here, inside me. Whenever I missed her or needed her, he told me all I needed to do was to close my eyes and remember and she would be there." Emily clenched her hand and tried desperately to find a foothold in the crumbling soil. "I know that Lucky's still here in that way too. He's in our hearts and in our memories whenever we need him."

"I want him to be here in front of me."

"I know. But Liz, Nikolas isn't Lucky. He can't replace him in your heart or in your life."

"If I have Nikolas I'll never be alone."

"You're wrong. You can be with someone and still be alone at the same time. I know. All the time I stayed with Juan because I was afraid of being alone but the truth was that I was alone anyway. I was alone in my heart because I didn't love Juan just like you don't love Nikolas."

"I do love Nikolas."

"No you don't. You love Lucky."

"Lucky is dead."

"I know that. And you know what? For the first time since Lucky died, I'm glad that he's dead. Glad that he can't see what you've done. How much you've hurt Nikolas. And me. The Elizabeth that Lucky loved could never let me die." Emily closed her eyes again.

"She's dead to. Everything is dead, don't you get it?"

"No. No I don't get it. You're alive and I'm alive and as long as we are alive there's always hope that things will get better. Help me Liz. Help me and I'll help you. I swear it. I won't turn my back on you."

"You hate me."

"No I don't. I know that you're confused. But you're my friend. I couldn't hate you. And even if we weren't friends.....Lucky loved you Liz. He wouldn't want you to hurt like this. And he wouldn't want me to stand by and watch you hurt without helping. Just like he wouldn't want you to stand by and watch me die."

"Lucky loved me and Nikolas will love me." The voice was softer but there was no movement and Emily knew that she had failed to convince Liz to help her.

"No." The rock shifted again. "Please Liz. Please. I'm begging" She could feel her grip letting loose and she knew also that it was over. Really over. No last minute saves. Not this time.

It won't hurt too much. Or at least not for that long.

She felt the rock slip out and she started to scream as her hold on the cliff was gone and she could feel herself begin to slip....

And a strong hand grasped fingers in a determined hold and then slowly extended his hold to her entire hand.

A hand that held her in a so tight that she knew he would never let her go.

Not that she wanted him to.

"Nikolas." She breathed the one word as she opened her eyes and looked up into his beloved face.

"I've got you love." He kept his tone steady and confident, not willing at this moment to let her know how scared he was when they had heard the gunshot and then the scream. Or the fact that his heart had literally stopped beating when he had seen her dangling on the side of the cliff.

"Who's got you?" Emily asked shakily as she felt both of them being pulled up the side, Nikolas's grip on her tightening as he felt himself pulled up the side of the cliff. "We're both going to fall." The walls of the cliff continued to disintegrate and Emily had a momentary vision of both of them falling. She tried to pry loose from his grip but he wouldn't let her.

"No we won't. Will and Jason are up there, they'll pull us up. Just hang on to me, okay?"

"Nikolas."

"Yeah." Despite the fact that he was dangling face down the side of the cliff, he felt better and stronger than he had in days. Their arms were inter linked and he knew there was no way he was going to let her go.

"I love you."

Nope, he was never going to let her go. "Not half as much as I love you."

As he said the last words, his legs were pulled back on to the top of the cliff and he reached down and pulled Emily, with Jason and Will's help, back up the side of the cliff. When they were both on solid ground, he pulled her into the tightness of his arms and she began to cry, soft sounds that were muffled by his chest.

"Emily?" Gently he pushed her away from him so he could look at her, his jaw tightening as he looked at the ugly bruises on her face. "The bastard hurt you. We need to get you to a doctor."

Emily shook her head. "Not yet, okay? I just want to sit here for a moment until I can believe that you're here and that I'm still alive and that everything is going to be okay." She closed her eyes and sighed softly. "I thought I was going to die." She started to shake as the adrenaline left and reaction set in. "I really thought I was going to die."

"Come on Quarterbrain," a familiar voice teased next to her, "You don't think you're getting out of godmother duties that easy."

"Jess? Oh God Jess!" Smiling, Nikolas released her momentarily as Emily propelled herself into her best friend's arms. His eyes met Will's and they both smiled at the girl's obvious joy over being together again. After a moment, Emily looked up and saw Will standing there and before you know it all of them, the four friends who had been through so much together, were enveloped in a group hug.

Much to the embarrassment of the two older men who stood and watched.

Jason shook his head ruefully.

Kevin cocked his head and stared at his friend. "If you're feeling left out, I'll be glad to

give you a hug."

Jason sighed as he turned away to give the four friends privacy "When are you going to get it through your head that you are supposed to be afraid of me? I am the mobster and you are just the reporter."

"Just the reporter? Give me a break. Being a reporter takes cunning and intelligence and nerves of steel." Kevin scoffed teasingly. "Besides the whole world knows that you are nothing but a Gummi Bear mobster."

Jason whirled on Kevin. "Okay Buchanan, that's it. I've been tolerant because I would hate for Cassie to have to be a single parent but....."

A cough interrupted the two men and Jason looked up with a scowl. "What?"

Johnny hid his smirk. "The police are arriving and Helena and her men took off."

"What? And you didn't stop them?"

"Relax Jason. What else did you expect Johnny to do? We both know that there is no concrete proof of Helena's involvement in any of this and even if the police booked her she'd be out in a heartbeat."

Jason clenched his jaw. "I hate the thought that the person who hurt Emily is going to get

away with it."

Kevin placed a hand on Jason's shoulder and turned him around to face Emily and the others. "She's safe Morgan. Just focus on that and let the rest of it go."

Emily gently extracted herself from the others, shivering with the suddenly cool air. "How did you find me?"

"Here," Nikolas removed his light weight jacket and placed it over her shoulders. "We followed Helena to the house and when you weren't there, we started looking for you. These woods are so think that I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't heard a gunshot and your scream......" His voice trailed off as he noticed how pale she got. "Em?"

She stood up shakily, mildly surprised to find her legs didn't buckle underneath her. "He was going to kill me. It was all this plot to get even with Sonny for what happened to Lily. He wanted his grandfather's business and he used me to get close to Sonny and Jason." She shuddered. "He was going to kill me."

"Juan?" Emily nodded.

"He never loved me."

"It's okay Em. It doesn't matter. He doesn't matter." He wrapped his arms around her as he stood behind her, burying his lips in her hair. "I've always loved you Emily. I always will."

She closed her eyes as the darkness of her thoughts lessened with every moment that he held her. "I know. I've always known." She turned in his arms till she faced him. "I'm sorry that I didn't believe in us."

"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about Liz before you received those damned pictures." He touched her cheeks gently. "And I'm more than sorry that you walked in and saw what you saw." He breathed deeply, willing her to believe him. "I didn't....it wasn't..."

"Shhh," she whispered softly as she interrupted him. "It's okay Nikolas. I know it was a set up."

"She drugged me."

"I know. I mean I didn't know that you were drugged, but I do know that you wouldn't do that to me."

"No, I wouldn't. I would die before I hurt you Emily."

Emily sighed. "Can we not talk about dying for a little bit? I just want to forget all about Juan and Liz and....." She stopped and pulled out of Nik's embrace and stared at the silent figure that had sat unmoving since the others had barreled into the meadow. "Liz?"

Nikolas looked over at Liz as if just now realizing that she was still there. His features hardened and he turned to Jason. "I suggest you get that bitch away from me."

Jason didn't argue, he was still having trouble coming to terms with what Liz had done himself. When they had come up on the scene and he had realized that Liz was prepared to watch Emily died, he knew that whatever was left of their friendship had died too.

Emily placed a hand on Nik's arm. "Nik."

He turned to her. "No! She was going to let you die. If we hadn't found you, she would have sat there and watched you fall. I can't forget that."

"I'm not asking to you."

"She drugged me," Nik continued his tirade unchecked. "She used me to hurt you. She deserves whatever she gets."

"Not to mention that she was the one who pushed me into the river." Jess spoke bitterly from where she and Will stood a few feet away from Nik and Em. "I almost lost my baby because of her."

A hard look crossed his features as Kevin turned to Jason. "You want to kill her, I'll help you hide the body."

"I think that's my job," Johnny spoke up softly.

"Stop it!" Emily shouted at all of them and they all stood still, a strange tableau in the fading light. Shaking off Nik's attempts to hold her back, she approached the crouched figure, noted the haunted look in her eyes and the despair locked within. How had they missed it all these months since Lucky had died?

"Liz? Elizabeth? It's okay. No one is going to hurt you."

"Emily," Nikolas growled warningly. "I can't forgive what she did."

"Me neither." Emily kept her voice soft as if she was speaking to Lulu, a child not an adult. "But I can't forget what we did either."

"What? Emily you didn't do anything to her."

"No but I made a promise. Remember Nikolas? That last night before...before the fire. We promised to always be there for each other. The four musketeers, remember. No matter what."

"Emily we've gone through hell these last few weeks because of her."

"And because of us, Nik. Liz and Juan didn't do it all by themselves. We helped them. You by not telling me the truth and me by letting my doubts destroy my trust in you."

"She hurt Jess."

"Because she's hurting."

"Emily I can't. I really can't...." Nik's voice trailed off. "She deserves to be in jail."

"She needs help. The kind of help she can't get in jail. She lost her way when she lost Lucky."

"Don't do that." Nik shook his head. "Don't throw my brother's death in my face. I loved him."

"I know. I loved him too. We all did. She did." If you had asked her, Emily couldn't tell you why it was so important to her that she help Liz. A part of her wanted Liz gone from their lives, but another part of her knew that if she turned her back on her ex-friend now she would never be able to live with herself.

Nikolas grimaced, her sensitivity was part of the reason he loved her so much but sometimes it got in the way of his Cassadineness. He wanted Liz gone from their lives, but he couldn't turn his back on the plea in Emily's eyes. Or his own memories from that night either. He sighed as he shook his head, looking at Will and Jess. "It's not my call. You're the ones she hurt the most."

Jess stared at the broken figure and for a moment, it wasn't Elizabeth she saw but herself, herself stalking Dorian, leaving gifts for her, lost in the madness caused by her grief at Megan's death....

"She needs help." She almost choked on the words but she said them anyway and nodded at Emily's look of understanding. "Emily's right, she's sick."

Kevin shook his head. "Sick and psychotic." In the distance they could all hear the sirens approaching.

Jason looked like he wanted to argue with his sister, but in the end he nodded turning to Johnny. "Stay with her until Taggert arrives."

"Jason!"

The mobster shook his head at his sister. "You want her alive, then we do it my way. Taggert will pick her up and take in for observation. We'll call someone to meet her at the station and make sure she gets a one way ticket to Ferncliff." He grinned behind his bland expression remembering some of the hell Carly had endured in that place. Maybe it was for the best that she was locked up in a mental facility rather than a prison. He just hoped she was sane enough to suffer even a fraction of what she had put his sister through. Outwardly, he remained impassive as he looked at the others. "Let's get out of here."

Emily shook her head. "What about Juan's.....Juan?" She finished lamely.

Nikolas shook his head. "Let Taggert take care of the trash." He began to walk over to where Emily was.

"Trash?" The mocking voice made them all freeze as the torn, bruised, bloody, and unfortunately alive figure of Juan Santiago stood up from where it had climbed up over the edge of the cliff about ten yards down from where Emily and Juan had fallen. "I knew there was a reason I've always hated you." He reached up with his gun in his hand and aimed it straight for Nikolas. "It will be a pleasure to watch you die."

"No!"

A shot rang out and Nikolas felt himself fall to the ground as a force hit him, knocking him down as a second shot rang out, hitting Juan straight in the chest, killing him instantly, and propelling his body back into the ravine.

It took Nik a second to realize that it had been a body that had knocked him down and not a bullet.

"Will?" He scrambled out from under his best friend. "Will?" He started looking for a wound even as Jess dropped to her knees beside her lover.

The silent figure opened one eye and then another. "I'm okay." He began and then grimaced with pain as he tried to move. "Except for a bullet hole in the shoulder that is."

"You've been shot." Jess's voice was shaky.

"Hey, I'm okay. It's just a flesh wound, no big deal."

Nikolas helped him to his feet. "You saved my life."

"Yeah...well I have to keep you around. Who else is going to pay for the stripper at my bachelor party?"

"Stripper?" Jessica frowned. "No way."

"Jess...."

Jess smiled. "Not unless I get one too."

The two exchanged long looks before Will nodded. "I'll make you a deal. How about we give each other a private performance instead?"

"Oh, I so did not need to hear that." Kevin grumbled before turning to Jason. "Nice shooting by the way."

Jason shook his head. "I didn't shoot him."

"Well if you didn't who did?"

"I did." Emily's clear and strong voice rang out as they all turned to look where she stood, holding the gun Liz had dropped earlier. Her gaze was focused on the spot where Juan had gone over the second time. She didn't even look up when Taggert and his men entered the clearing.

"What the hell is going on here?" Taggert took in the scene at one glance, Emily's battered form still holding the smoking gun, Liz huddled on the ground hugging herself, and the guy they had fished out of the river a few days ago holding onto his bleeding shoulder. "I heard gunshots. What happened?"

There was no verbal response from anyone as Nik stepped closer to Emily. One of Taggert's men looked over the edge. "Hey boss, there's a body down here."

"It's Juan." Emily's voice was flat and emotionless, her grip on the gun tight. "I shot him."

"Emily, don't. Don't say a word." Nikolas moved forward to take the gun away from her but she wouldn't release it.

"Emily's he's right. Don't say a thing." Jess spoke up even as she was mentally calling Sam and Nora to help Emily.

"You can't talk to her without a lawyer present," Jason said evenly.

Taggert held up his hand to stop the cascade of voices telling Emily to not speak. His voice tight with authority, he turned to Emily. "Just tell me what happened."

"Is he dead?"

"Emily." Taggert begin but she shook her head.

"Is he dead?" Her voice was frozen and it was Jess who understood Emily's need and peered over the side. She winced when she saw Juan's body at the bottom of the ravine.

She walked back over to Emily.

"He's dead Em. He's really dead. He can't hurt you or Nikolas or anyone ever again."

Emily relaxed and her fingers loosened and Taggert took the gun out of her hands.

"I'm not sorry I killed him. I'm not sorry at all." The last was said to Nik who had gently placed an arm around her. "I wanted him dead. He deserved to die."

"I know. I know love. It's going to be okay."

"I'm not sorry." Emily repeated the phrase over and over as she felt Juan's fist crash into her, his feet kicking her so hard that she knew he broke a rib, the fear as he stood ready to push her over the cliff, the venom in his voice and the hatred in his words as he spoke. "I'm not sorry."

Taggert shook his head. He hated this part of his job. He reached into his jacket and removed his handcuffs.

"Emily Quartermaine."

"You can't do this Taggert. My God the bastard tried to kill her." Jason exploded angrily ready to stop Taggert physically if he had to.

"Jason don't. You can't help her if you give him something to arrest you on." Kevin murmured softly.

"Come on Taggert, this isn't right and you know it." Nikolas's voice reflected his own growing anger and fear.

"All I know is that there's a body down there with a bullet in it that Miss. Quartermaine put in it." Taggert approached a still unmoving Emily. "You heard her admit that she shot him and that she shot him deliberately."

"He was trying to kill Nikolas. Damn it he shot me." Will exclaimed in disbelief, mentally revising his opinion of the Llanview PD up a notch, not even they would be stupid enough to pull a stunt like this. "It was self defense."

"I'll let the judge and the D.A figure that one out." Taggert held up the cuffs and slipped them on Emily.

"Emily Quartermaine, you are under arrest for the murder of Juan Santiago. You have the right to remain silent and anything you say may be used against you......."

The End

Oh yeah, epilogue coming really soon, I promise. :)