David glanced around the small airport, wondering who and where this "Renaldo" person was that Jason had mentioned. Seeing the muscular man coming towards him, David immediately had the answer. He picked up his bag as Renaldo stopped in front of him.

"Are you Tyler?"

David nodded.

"Come on, kid. We've got a lot of talking to do."

Once they were settled in the back of a limo, Renaldo leaned toward David.

"You recognize the risks in these jobs?" He asked. "Good", he said receiving a nod. "Then I have your assignment." Renaldo took some photos out of his suit pocket. "This is Moreno." He said, showing a picture to David. "He's the one we're after, and who is after us. He wants our territory and will stop at nothing to get it. It's important that we protect those that Jason ordered us too. If we don't, Moreno will get to them. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"He'll go that far?"

"He'll go further. Moreno has no heart. If someone is in the way or is a threat to him, he'll take them out. If he sees the opportunity to get to Jason, he'll do it."

Renaldo put the picture down and took out another one.

"This is Carly Roberts. She's the mother of Michael, Jason's kid. It's a long story, and you'll probably hear it someday, but not today, and not from me.

"This is Michael. You have to understand that Jason loves this kid more than anything. No one except for himself, Carly, his sister, and her friend, is going to go near him. Do you understand?"

David nodded.

"Okay-here's the important part, so listen carefully. This picture is of Jason's little sister, Emily, and her friend, Lucky." Renaldo handed the picture to David. "They don't really like the whole bodyguard thing, or so they tell us." Renaldo caught Johnny's eye in the rearview mirror and winked. Johnny turned back to driving, but Renaldo could see that he was chuckling. "The other night, someone opened fire at a party on the beach."

David stared at him. "Was it this Moreno guy?"

"We don't think so. Moreno likes to play games. That's not his kind of move. Anyway, this is where you come in. We want you to become friends with Emily and Lucky. Since you're about their age, this should be easy. But it's more complicated than that. You're going to be another bodyguard, in a way. Johnny and myself might not be close by if something happens, like the other night. We want you around in case anything does. And since you're a kid, they won't suspect."

"Why are you keeping this from them?" David wanted to know.

"We want them to put all of their trust in you. They trust us with their lives, but they don't confide in us with their suspicions. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, listen up. Lucky is a Spencer. He has fighting in the blood and he can usually take care of himself. But Emily is fragile and vulnerable. She had some trouble last summer and started messing around with drugs. Now, Lucky is very protective over her. So get on his good side. Other than that, they're both great kids. Do you think you can handle this?"

David stared down at the picture of pretty brunette. "Not a problem."

"These clothes are so adorable." Emily said as she and Carly browsed in a clothing store for newborns and children.

"Aren't they? I love shopping, especially for Michael." Carly looked at the price tag on one piece of clothing and made a face. Putting it back on the rack, she said, "I'm going to pay for these things. If you'd like, you can take Michael outside."

"Sure." Emily took hold of the stroller handle and pushed open the door as Carly brought the clothes up front.

Outside, she lifted her head upwards and let the sun's warm rays shine down on her face.

"Emily!"

She turned around and smiled. "Hey Nikolas."

"Hi." He said once he caught up to her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Good." Nikolas looked around. "Lucky isn't around here, is he?"

Emily chuckled. "No, he's back at the house."

"Well, how about going out to dinner with me tonight? There's a great Italian restaurant nearby on the boardwalk."

"Sounds great."

"Good, I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Uh-"

"Oh, right, Lucky."

"You know what, come anyway. I'm sure he won't mind…much."

Nikolas chuckled. "We'll see."

"Em, are you ready to go?"

"Sure, Carly." Emily smiled at Nikolas. "Bye, Nikolas."

"See you tonight, Em."

"Goodbye, Nikolas." Carly waved and then turned to Emily.

"Tonight?"

"We're going out to dinner."

"Oh." She said knowingly.

"A friendly dinner." Emily corrected.

"Are you sure?" Carly said pushing Michael's stroller. "I seem to remember you having a crush on him a few months ago."

Emily rolled her eyes and grinned.

"And are you sure a certain someone won't be jealous?" Carly teased.

Emily's eyes sparkled as she laughed. "Who, Lucky? Never!"

David Tyler glanced around the small hotel room. A bed, a bathroom, and a TV. Well, Renaldo said that's all he would need. He flung his bag onto the single bed and tossed his hotel key onto the counter. He took off his jacket and tossed it on the back of a chair. David lay back on his bed and gazed at the ceiling. He had no clue as of what was in store for him and this assignment. In fact, he was a little nervous. It was finally sinking in. All of the danger of this lifestyle, he was finally understanding it. It meant living in hotel rooms while watching out after people who he hardly knew almost twenty-four hours a day.

His gaze shifted to the picture he had propped up by the television. It was a better lifestyle than before. He had grown up rich, but hardly loved. His parents would always be going out, leaving him alone with the maid or a babysitter. And he was always terribly lonesome.

David was a good kid. He always did his homework in school, he got good grades, and he stayed out of his parent's way most of the time. But he didn't have many friends because he mostly kept to himself.

He didn't mind though, because he learned not to feel bad about those kind of things. That was why this was the best thing for him. Even sleeping in this dinky, run-down hotel on an island he had never heard of was better than being back where he was. He actually had a life of his own now. A place to start over-a second chance to live life the way he wanted to live it.

David glanced at the picture of the laughing brunette. He would make this life work-completely start over. After all, wasn't that what second chances were meant for?

Emily sighed as the doorbell rang.

"Nikolas, you're early." She muttered as she put on her earrings and adjusted her khaki skirt. She quickly hurried out of her room and ran down the hallway, hoping to get to the door before Lucky.

Then she realized she was too late.

"Cassadine." She could hear Lucky mutter.

Nikolas nodded. "Lucky."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking Emily out to dinner."

Emily whirled around and started down the hallway as Lucky turned.

"Oh, no you don't." Lucky ran after her into her room and shut the door behind him.

"What the hell was that?" He wanted to know. "You're going out with him?"

Emily nodded, a bit uncomfortable.

"Em, he's a Cassadine!"

"He's my friend."

"But you're going out to dinner with him?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Emily demanded.

"He's a-he's a….Em, he's a Cassadine!"

"So what? You've known for a long time that I've been friends with him. Why are you so protective now?"

"Because I-you-I… Because you're my friend, you're my best friend. And he's a Cassadine!"

"Yeah, we established that already. Lucky, can't you get over this feud already? He's your brother."

"He is not my brother, Em."

"He is Lucky. Whether you want to believe it or not."

"No. You're wrong. He is a Cassadine."

"And you're a Spencer, and I'm a Quartermaine. That's just a name, Lucky."

"It's more than that. It's much more."

"I know it is. Your families are enemies-I've heard it before. Why can't you end this? Why can't it stop with you?"

"Just don't go out with him."

"Oh, no. You will not tell me who I can or can't go out with." Emily grabbed her purse off the bed. "I'm leaving." Emily ran out the door, leaving Lucky behind.

Lucky leaned against the wall and shook his head.

"You don't get it, Em. You just don't get it."

"So how was your date with Nikolas last night?" Lucky couldn't help but sound envious as he talked to Emily the next day on the beach.

"It was fun." Emily said as she kicked the sand with her bare feet. She shifted the sandals she held in her hand.

"What did you do?" Lucky inquired.

Emily stole a glance at him. "Oh, you know…the usual. After dinner, we went for a stroll on his private beach. We sat on the sand, and as the water splashed over our bodies, we watched the stars. And then we looked into each other's eyes. I wrapped my arms around his body…he wrapped his arms around mine. Our lips met…"

"Oh, God, spare me." Lucky said as she laughed out-loud.

"Lucky, what do you think happened? We went out to dinner and then went to the boardwalk."

Lucky shrugged.

Emily stopped walking and turned to face him. "That's it!" She exclaimed.

Lucky stopped and looked at her quizzically.

"What's it?"

"You're jealous!"

"Gimme a break." He muttered as he started to walk away again, hands in his pocket.

"You are, aren't you?" She caught up with him.

"What would I be jealous of? He's just some typical rich kid-spoiled, stuck up, and someone who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself."

Emily glared at him, her smile fading. "Next time you want to insult someone, Spencer, choose your words carefully." She turned and angrily walked away from him.

Lucky Spencer kicked the sand in front of him and looked out into the ocean. He hadn't meant to say what he had blurted out earlier before. He really didn't feel that way about Nikolas or Emily, for that matter. As he gazed out into the ocean, a realization hit him. Maybe Emily was right. Maybe he was jealous. But jealous of whom, and why? Because Nikolas has Emily.

The thought came to him so suddenly that he was having a hard time comprehending it.

Nikolas had Emily?

That was ridiculous. His brother and Emily were friends, while he himself and Emily were best friends. As he walked further up the beach, Lucky couldn't help but think that for a long time, Nikolas not only had Emily's total trust, but he had had her affection.

And that's what I'm missing, Lucky thought. He looked up the beach to see Emily getting in the jeep with Carly. He shook his head. He and Emily were best friends and they would never be more than that. But as he looked back up to the road where the car was driving away, he couldn't help but wonder…

As Carly parked the car along a strip of stores, Emily got out and waved goodbye. "I'll see you in an hour." She said.

Carly nodded and went off to do some of her own shopping. Emily walked down to the public beach and took off her sandals. As she walked down to the shoreline, she could see families with picnic baskets, teenagers playing in the water or on the sand, and a few sunbathers lying out on towels.

As water splashed along her feet, Emily thought over Lucky's comment. She couldn't believe that he would say such a thing. Of course, she hadn't been affected by it much. She knew that he hadn't aimed the comment at her. But the memory of last year's nurse's ball was still vivid, and although they were best friends again, she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking sometimes.

As a jogger listening to music came towards her, she could see him slowing down.

"Hi." He said, taking his headset off his ears. Emily could faintly hear the music of one of her favorite bands.

"Hi." She smiled. The boy looked no older than sixteen or seventeen and he was very cute. He had dark brown hair and gorgeous, dark blue eyes. Emily could see an earring in his left ear and she immediately thought of Lucky.

"My name's David." He said, sticking his hand out to shake hers. "David Tyler."

"Emily." She replied, taking his hand. "Emily Quartermaine, it's nice to meet you."

"Are you from around here, Emily Quartermaine?"

Emily smiled and shook her head. "No, we're just visiting for the summer. I'm from Port Charles, New York. Have you heard of it?"

David nodded. "Yes, I've heard a lot about it. It's quite a town."

Emily shrugged. "I guess." She glanced behind him down the beach.

"I'm sorry, was I interrupting your walk?" David asked.

"Oh, no. Not at all."

"Would you mind if I joined you then?"

Emily smiled, immediately taken in by his charm.

"I would love it." She looked up at him as they strolled along the wet sand. "So, is that my favorite band I hear?"

David chuckled as he hit a button on his Walkman, shutting off the music. "I guess so."

"Are you here on vacation?" Emily asked.

"In a way." David responded. He didn't say anything more, so Emily didn't push for details.

They continued to talk as they walked up the beach. Seeing Carly by the car, Emily walked over. "Hey Carly, this is David. I just met him on the beach. David, this is my brother's friend, Carly."

As David and Carly exchanged hellos, Emily slipped on her sandals. As she looked up, she could see Carly giving her a subtle wink. Emily just smiled and turned to David.

"Um, so, I hope to see you around…" She said.

David nodded. "Yeah, you too."

As Emily and Carly got in the car, David acknowledged the bodyguard with a brief nod. The car pulled out of the parking space and onto the road. Emily turned around from the backseat to wave goodbye one last time. David smiled and waved back to the beautiful brunette. Yes, he was definitely getting his second chance.

"Haven't you had enough of the beach, Em?"

Emily laughed as she changed into a pale yellow sundress. "Never. Besides, I'll only be down there for a little while. I'll be up in time to leave for dinner."

Carly sat down on the edge of Emily's bed and watched her dress.

"That David guy is cute." She said, holding Michael.

Emily grinned at her in the mirror. "That's what I thought too."

"Do you think you'll see him again? Or should I say, do you want to see him again?"

Emily nodded as she put in her earrings. "I do. It was weird, though, Carly," Emily turned around, an expression of puzzlement appearing on her face. "I mean, he approached me on the beach and introduced himself. But the way he said my name, it was like he already knew it. I know I must be reading into things, but it seemed as if he knew me, knew of Port Charles, knew of my family." Emily shook her head. "It sounds strange, just forget it."

Carly watched the female finish dressing and nodded, only half listening as Emily talked about the island. She glanced at the closed door of the study and whispered, "strange."

Lucky Spencer walked along the beach, heading back towards the house. He had been out there for hours, just walking and thinking. He looked out beyond the ocean at the brilliant sunset. All of these thoughts running through his mind was making him crazy. Thoughts mostly of his best friend, of Emily.

Lucky shook his head and kicked the sand. It was impossible. He couldn't have a crush on Emily, it was just impossible. They were best friends. They had been together through thick and thin. Well, Lucky thought miserably, thin mostly. But that was in the past, Emily had forgiven him for not being there for her and the two had been close ever since.

Something in Lucky made him want to become closer to her. Now, she was more than just a silly kid running halfway around the country with him, searching for her aunt. She was someone who had grown up. Who had learned about life at such a young and hard age. Who had dealt with so much by herself, without him.

Lucky wanted to kick himself for not being there for her all of those times. And although she had forgiven him, he still felt the guilt.

Now, the water splashed along his bare feet. The sand was wet and cold beneath them. Lucky looked up at the house and saw Emily running down the patio stairs to the beach. He watched as she slowed and walked over to the shore. She had a fascination with the ocean, he realized. He had caught her watching it with interest and a look of longing only a few days before, when they had arrived on the island by jet.

The wind kicked up, making her dress sway, revealing her legs. Her hair raced with the wind, and the ocean sprayed her face. But she didn't move, she hardly flinched.

Lucky softly walked up next to her. She knew he was there, he could tell. He said not a word and stood beside her. He turned toward the ocean and watched the waves, wondering what she saw.

"I'm sorry, Em." He finally said.

Emily turned to look at him. "What?"

"I'm sorry for acting like a jerk before, I didn't mean it."

"I know."

Lucky looked at her, surprised. "You know?"

"I know that you didn't mean what you said. It's okay, Lucky. Don't worry about it."

Lucky watched her as she turned back towards the waves.

"What do you see?" He inquired.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you see in the ocean. I've watched you come here a lot. What do you see?"

Emily was silent for so long, Lucky thought she had forgotten what he asked.

"I see power." She finally told him. "I see power, anger, frustration…" She nodded towards the waves crashing upon one another. "I see that on a night like this." Lucky was silent as he watched her eyes search the ocean.

"But I also see gentleness, vulnerability, life. Life most of all." She turned toward him then. "It's just like a person, you know? It has power and anger, gentleness and vulnerability. But there's life there, you know?" She turned her head toward the ocean again. "The best thing about it, though, is immortality. The ocean is never ending, it can never die. The one thing on this earth that can never truly die."

Lucky watched his friend, his best friend, and wondered what was going on in her mind.

"What do you see?" She wanted to know.

He didn't know what to say. He had never thought of the ocean in that way before. He looked into her eyes and replied,

"I see beauty, softness, kindness. I see fiery anger and vulnerability." Impulsively, Lucky took her hands and held them in his own, Emily turned to look at him, a warm feeling washing over her. "Most of all," he said. "I see you."

Emily smiled. "Spencer, that was the corniest line I have ever heard."

"Did it work?" Lucky asked, grinning.

Emily shrugged and picked up her sandals.

"Maybe."

Renaldo watched as Carly stared at the closed wooden door of Jason's study. A few moments after Emily had left for the beach, she had moved into the den, sitting in a chair that had a perfect view of the study.

Renaldo thought this odd, as she just stood there and watched it as if she expected Jason to walk out at any minute. He said nothing of it though, noting that she must be thinking about something big to be so deep in thought. He leaned lightly against the wall and observed as she finally stood up and walked down the hallway to the study.

She paused, looked back at him, and then entered the room. Curious, Renaldo moved a few inches so that he had a view of the whole room. He glanced inside to see Carly walk up to the desk and pick up the phone. She looked up at Renaldo, and he averted his gaze, trying to remain inconspicuous, yet failing to do so.

She didn't seem to mind, however. In fact, he wondered later if she had intended on him to hear the conversation.

"Jason, it's Carly." The woman said. "Everyone's fine here, everything's fine." She looked up at Renaldo then, he stared straight ahead and avoided her stare.

Her voice turned sweet, the kind of sweet that was obviously fake. Renaldo leaned in a little, while still trying to look innocent.

"Jason, how is everything there? Really, oh that's great." Carly glanced up once again at Renaldo as she twirled the telephone chord in her hands. A smile, one that only Renaldo and Jason could know from watching her, played on her lips. "Here? Oh, everything's great. Emily, Michael, and I went shopping on Saturday, then we took him to play in the water, and I'm forgetting something, what was it we did? Oh, yes, that's it. It must have slipped my mind." She raised her eyes to Renaldo and smiled innocently. "We finally met David. You know him, don't ya Jase?"

Jason clutched his cellular phone in his hand, his knuckles began to turn white and he immediately eased up on his grip.

"Carly, how did you know?"

"Please, don't make me out like Robin, I'm not naïve. I figured it out once Emily told me about him. Now why all the secrecy?"

"There was no secrecy, he's a new guy who needed a job."

"Cut the bull, Jason, you know as well as I do that you can't lie. Now tell me straight out-why all the secrecy and why is he here?"

"I'm not lying to you, Carly." Jason sighed and sat down on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. He ran his hand through his hair and said, "He's just a kid who ran away from home, a 17 year old runaway who wanted a job. I told him what the dangers were and I told him about the risks involved, but he didn't decline. So, I sent him to the island to look out for my sister and Lucky. I figured that if he got their friendship, then they would confide in him about any suspicions they might have."

"What suspicions?" Carly inquired.

"Look Carly, you know what's going on with Moreno. If anything, anything at all happened on that island and they grew suspicious, they would talk to each other, but they wouldn't tell you, or Renaldo, or me. That's where David comes in. And besides, it's the least dangerous job…for now."

Jason heard Carly laugh. "With Lucky Spencer around, I wouldn't be too sure of that."

Relief washed over Jason as he heard the familiar laugh. He had grown accustomed to it…he had grown accustomed to everything about her. The way she tossed her hair, the sweet, innocent smile she wore when she wanted something, the tone in her voice when she was trying to suppress her anger. He actually found himself missing all of these things and more. He took a quick glance around the penthouse and noticed how it lacked the life and warmth it usually held when she was in the room.

"I'll call you later to see how everything is going." He promised. "And I'll be back soon. Once everything is settled for a little while with Moreno. And once Robin is feeling better."

He heard her voice change as he mentioned Robin. "Okay." Was her reply. He was about to hang up when he heard her voice again.

"Hey Jase?"

"Yeah, Carly?"

"I-I mean, Michael misses you."

Jason smiled. "You tell him I miss him back." He shut off his cell phone and looked around the dreary apartment. "I miss you too."