"I have already told you, Mother, there seemed to be a falling out of some kind between Nikolas and the Spencer boy tonight," Stephan said leaning against his desk. His neck bent to balance the phone against his shoulder. "No...I don't know anything more than that."

"Well, I should have known you wouldn't be able to gain the whole story," Helena sighed, rolling her eyes towards the sky as she leaned back against the plush seat of her jet. "Why I count on you to get anything done is bey-"

"Mother!" Stephan interrupted irritatedly. "I assure you that you would not have been able to glean anymore information out of Nikolas than I did. I will not have my relationship with Nikolas jeopardized by your scheme for revenge on Luke Spencer....You can do the rest of your dirty work on your own."

Helena clicked her tongue. "Am I to assume you no longer hold any affection for Laura Spencer?"

Stephan tried his best to ignore his mother's blatant ploy at manipulation. "Mother...do not make me regret giving you this information. If you feel you can get Luke Spencer out of the picture than do it!"

With that he slammed the phone down against it's cradle, huffing as he walked over to the chair behind his desk. He ran a tired hand over his goatee as he sank down into the chair.

All that was left to do now was wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth felt the door press against her back as Lucky made quick work of the lock. All the while his lips and tongue devouring the smooth line of her neck.

She felt his arms snake quickly around her waist as she stumbled backwards over the threshold behind her, the door finally giving way. Lucky's lips suddenly locked on hers again as his feet slowly steered them towards the bed. His hands frantically searching for a way to rid her of the material that encased her.

"The side," Elizabeth panted, heady with his kiss. Unable to form a complete sentence even if she had wanted to. Unable to work around his incessant lips.

A low sound emanated from his throat in response. The sound was deep and primal. A tone based on pure instinct and lust. A sound that was accompanied by his fingers sliding their way towards the hidden zipper just under her arm.

Elizabeth bit her lip and grasped onto the back of Lucky's neck as he slipped his hand inside of the now open slit up her side. She quivered at the contact of his cool hand against the overheated flesh on her stomach. She could have sworn she heard a sizzle.

That's what it had been like the entire way home. Even in the cab he hadn't been able to keep his hands off of her. Rubbing and tugging at her the entire time. She had thought she would die if she didn't get him home soon.

Elizabeth thought she was going to die now, as his excited body pressed against her covered tummy. As her own physical needs overrode her common sense.

She didn't know what to call it. What to make of the abrupt change in Lucky's attitude. A few hours ago he had looked as if he wanted to rip Nikolas' head off, and he hadn't looked much more fond of her. Yet now, it was as if there wasn't enough of her to touch. Enough of anything to satisfy the insatiable need in his kiss.

Or his hands. She didn't know how or when it had happened, but her bra had come off. The strapless, black piece of material strewn haphazardly atop the carpet. Her dress was still on...how had he? 'Nevermind,' she thought absently as his thumb brushed exquisitely against her nipple. She felt the bed hit the backs of her knees and it jolted her closer to the reality before her. Not the one that felt like heaven on Earth, but the one that needed her immediate attention.

She needed to talk to him. She needed to open her mouth for something besides his wicked, merciless tongue. Every nerve ending in her body screamed in protest, but she needed to speak. Needed to make sense of what was happening here. 'He wants to ravish you, you idiot! What is there to talk about!?...Shut up!' Her other voice countered, as the battle within her heart and mind raged.

His lips were on hers once again. Feverishly, as he lowered her to the bed, her head hitting the soft pillow beneath her. Elizabeth moaned as his hand made it's way up her thigh and under the fabric of her dress. 'Tell him to stop...tell him to stop....ooooh,' she thought as his fingers sneaked mischievously under the elastic of her panties.

"Lucky," she sighed, her body responding to his every caress. Her brain responding to her conscience. "Lucky," she said again. This time moving her hand to his wrist in gentle protest, before her mind went numb again. "Stop," she panted.

He looked up. His eyes glassy with desire and surprised by her words. "What?" He asked, just as breathless as she was. "What's wrong?" He asked, mumbling as his lips returned to her delicious neck.

Elizabeth breathed in through her teeth, as he pressed himself against her. His hands resting against her hips. "Lucky," she whimpered in ecstasy. "We have to stop...we need t - to.....talk."

Lucky raised his head, looking into her eyes for a long moment. An instant later he pulled completely away. Sitting up on the bed and swinging his legs over the side. He braced his arms against his knees.

'That was abrupt,' Elizabeth thought as she watched him completely shift gears once again.

"Talk," he said, his tone sharp as he stood and walked slowly over to his dresser. He faced the mirror.

He wasn't looking at her. "Lucky, could you please turn around?" She asked, her voice steady. She suddenly felt like she had to be the voice of reason. Everything about tonight was completely insane.

He turned around in an instant, looking coolly into her eyes. "I said 'talk,' Elizabeth.....I can still hear you with my back turned."

With that he turned back towards the dresser and Elizabeth felt as if someone had just socked her in the stomach. She could not remember a time that Lucky hadn't looked her in the eye when he talked to her. No matter how difficult the subject matter. She squeezed her eyes shut and did not allow the tears to come.

'No reason to cry Webber...maybe this is just how he gets when he's had a few too many,' she thought, trying to come up with any reason besides the one that had been nagging at her all day. 'Don't be stupid girl, you know it's a lot more than his alcohol level talking.'

Her hands shakily reached for the zipper on her dress and brought it back up the track. She inhaled slowly through her nose and cleared her throat. "I was just hoping we could talk about what happened tonight...with Nikolas."

Lucky turned around slowly, leaning back against the dresser behind him. "Ok, Elizabeth...you wanna talk about it? Alright...what exactly did happen with Nikolas tonight?"

His question was far from innocent. There was a different accusation laced through every word.

"Nothing," she said her voice full of conviction and determination. "Lucky, it happened just like I said it did. He came into the club....supposedly to order Cheesefries for Lu, and he just started talking about how he had to tell me something and how it was really important....and I.....God, I just didn't wanna hear another thing out of his mouth you know? So I told him to get lost......although we all know how persistent Nikolas can be."

Lucky glared at her for a long moment. He tilted his head to the side. "Hmph....how persistent CAN he be, Elizabeth?"

A deep anger that she didn't think she could ever feel for the man in front of her propelled her from the bed. She stood impossibly still. The bed looming between them. "Lucky," she said, her voice taking on a shaky edge. "I get that you're mad at me......I don't really understand why....but I get that.......what I DON'T get however, is that look in your eyes. That look that's accusing me of God only knows what....................Lucky, if you have something to ask me, why don't you just come right out and ask me?"

"I already did!" He exploded, slamming his fist against the dresser. "I already did that Elizabeth, remember? Remember this evening when we got to Luke's and I asked you point blank if anything had ever happened between you and Nikolas? And you - "

"And I told you no!" Elizabeth shouted, losing all semblance of calm.

The silence was deafening. Maddening. Disturbing as it's meaning set in.

Her voice was little more than a whisper, but razor sharp when it finally broke the density surrounding them. "You don't believe me."

It was more a statement than a question. She already knew the answer.

Lucky looked down as the words stung him in a place that he didn't know he still had. His lip started to tremble at the realization that he did not fully believe her. At the realization that he had lost what he held more sacred than anything. That Faison had indeed succeeded in taking the one thing he swore he'd hold on to forever. His faith in Elizabeth's love for him.

When he finally looked up, he knew he didn't have to answer her. She knew.

Her lip trembled as she neared him, but she refused to cry. "When?" She asked silently. "When did you stop believing in me Lucky? What have I ever done to - "

"Nothing," he interrupted, his voice almost inaudible.

"Oh, it must be something Lucky...because the way you look at me...."

Her voice trailed off as she fought for words. She turned to the side and then looked back, staring into his eyes. "You think something happened between Nikolas and I?"

Lucky bit his lip and looked down. Ashamed of the fact that somewhere a little, nagging, thick accented voice inside him told him that something had happened. Even though he knew in his heart of hearts that she wouldn't lie to him. He sighed loudly as he met her gaze.

"I ran into Nikolas in the store this morning," he stated, walking away from where she stood perched against the dresser. Anywhere to escape the hurt in her eyes. The pain that he had just put there.

"Man..that guy has a mouth on him Elizabeth....You shoulda heard the things he was saying."

Elizabeth watched him as he sank down into the bed, his back to her.

"I didn't wanna tell you what he said, because I knew it would only hurt you."

"I think you better tell me, because it seems to be hurting us already," she stated bluntly.

Lucky turned back towards her, not wanting to say the words he was about to say, but knowing she was right. They needed to be said. He owed her this.

"He started going on and on about Christmas.......See at first I thought he was just talking about the incident you told me about......you know...at Wyndemere?...When you thought he was me..........but then...........then, he started saying it was something different.....something that happened that afternoon.....supposedly you threw yourself at him.......I guess this was supposed to have happened before Wyndemere.....at Audrey's or som..............................."

Lucky's voice trailed off as he watched Elizabeth's face turn white as a sheet.

"Elizabeth," he said, his voice expressionless. She didn't answer. Her only response was a look towards the floor.

Lucky stood up slowly and walked over to her, his legs feeling as if they had been weighed down by cement blocks. "Elizabeth," he said again, his face mere inches from hers. Still no response.

A fist grabbed at the insides of his stomach and clenched.

"Elizabeth this....it's just a bunch of crap, right? What Nikolas said? I mean....I'm just crazy for letting this get to me right?" He asked, his voice beginning to quiver with the beginnings of terror. "I, mean.....I'm just paranoid right?"

Her silence forced him to blink back the burning tears behind his eyes. "Elizabeth...tell me this is all some big fabrication. A Nikolas Cassidine original," he pleaded, chuckling at the end to falsify the humor of the moment.

The pause that one took as a courtesy to the next speaker in a conversation came and went. It came and went twice. No words from either party.

Lucky looked down at his feet and backed away, one step at a time as he snickered bitterly. "Damn....I guess Faison was right about a few things."

Elizabeth's head jerked up, wounded by the words. Startled by her own memory of a day that she could have happily lived her whole life without remembering. So that's what this had all been about?

"No!" She cried, her voice thick with unshed tears as she took off after his quick in moving feet. He was walking back and forth across the room like a caged animal. "Lucky...listen to me," she wailed, as he looked at the floor. Running his hands through his hair countless times. He wasn't hearing her. Wasn't looking at her.

"Lucky!" She said falling into step behind him. "Lucky...you have to listen to me. It was this one, stupid, isolated incident. It wasn't even...God, it didn't mean anyth - "

"It didn't mean anything!" He yelled, wheeling on her in anger. "Are you seriously gonna stand here and tell me to my face, that coming on to my brother didn't mean anything?! I'd been 'dead' for how long Elizabeth, huh?" He quipped sardonically, counting the months off on his fingers. "8 months!!!!....Damn, that didn't take long at all did it?" He stormed away from her, reaching for the doorknob.

Elizabeth quickly blocked his path, her tears rapidly tracing paths down her cheeks as she looked into his angry blue orbs. "Lucky! Please....you can't leave like this," she pleaded, placing herself between firmly against the door in front of him. "I didn't lie to you! I would never - "

"It's a little too late to say that Elizabeth! You already did!....God, I can't believe this!....That night....Elizabeth," he said, his voice shaky as he looked down. "The first time we made love.....do you know what you said?! Do you know what you said afterwards?!" He asked, his voice rising in fury once again.

She shook her head. What was he talking about? Of course she remembered. They'd fallen asleep in each other's arms. It had been beautiful. The most beautiful memory she'd ever have.

"I'll tell you what you said," Lucky snapped bitterly as she looked blankly at him. "You said 'Nikolas.'....That's right Elizabeth. In your sleep...after we made love for the first time. Only a few days after I came home....you said 'Nikolas," Lucky chuckled oddly as he looked down. "God, I guess that shoulda been my first clue, huh?.....Damn, I guess death can slow a guy's brain functioning down a little bit."

Elizabeth's brain turned through it's pages of memory, dialogue, dreams...feverishly. Nothing. 'What the Hell was he talking about?...Something she'd said in a dream? God...how could she possibly...No, this wasn't happening.'

She cut him off as he frantically reached around her for the knob again. "No! Damnit, Lucky.....you don't understand! I didn't REMEMBER! God, Lucky I was a different person, I was not the same girl you knew!" She caught his forearm, holding it away from the doorknob that he so desperately tried to reach. "Lucky there aren't even enough words to describe to you how incredibly lonely I w- "

In a flash, the arm that she had been holding, jerked away pounding against the plaster next to the door frame. His fist leaving a huge dent in the cheap white building material. "YOU were lonely!? You were lone....."

His broke off mid-tirade, as the small jump he had just seen registered in his brain as fear, as the ghostly tinge of her skin registered as horror.

He backed away from her slowly, watching her as she watched him. "Di -....Did you think......Elizabeth did you think I was gonna hi - hit you?"

"No," she said, straightening against the door. She wiped her tears and cleared her throat, trying to make her voice stronger. "No," she said again. She walked towards him and he backed away.

"Yes," he said, staring into her eyes. "Yes, you did."

"No, Lucky....I swear I didn't."

His eyes traveled past her head and landed on the fresh hole in the wall. She followed his gaze and quickly brought them back to him, landing on his reddening knuckles.

"Come here," she whispered, narrowing the space between them. He jerked his hand away at her soft touch as if it burned.

"No...Elizabeth...don't....I can't..let.....you....."He looked away, stuttering as a fear so profound he would never have been able to describe it took hold of him. "You have to leave."

"What?" Elizabeth said, reaching for him again.

He backed away on instinct. "No...Elizabeth, you aren't listening to me...you have to leave....I can't do this anymore."

"What do you mean? Lucky...I love you. We love each other. I swear to God that I didn't lie to you I would never knowingly - "

"No," he interrupted, his words low and almost indistinguishable with agony. The tears that started to fall would not be stopped. He brushed a thumb softly against her cheek, and she leaned into his hand. He believed her. God, he believed her. Why the Hell was he acting like a crazy man? Questions bombarded him from every angle. He couldn't breathe.

"No...I can't do this Elizabeth...you have to leave....Elizabeth I cannot take the chance of hurting y-"

"You wouldn't," she cried, cupping his face and bringing him closer. His leaned his forehead tiredly against hers.

"No..Elizabeth...please....you have to listen to me here....I can't....God, Elizabeth if I ever....Elizabeth I would kill myself if I ever layed a hand on you."

His tears mixed with hers and she tried her best to wipe them away. She smiled wryly. "Listen to me, if you ever STOPPED laying your hands on me, I'd have to kill you."

He broke away from her, walking quickly over to the dresser and pulling open a drawer. "This isn't a joke Elizabeth...I can't.....you have to get out of here."

Elizabeth eyes widened as she realized that he would not be talked out of this, that he had truly scared himself. He'd scared himself more than he could have possibly scared her. He was rummaging through her drawer like someone possessed.

"Where's your suitcase?" She heard him mumble.

She rushed over to him, stilling his hands as he began to pull her undergarments from the bottom drawer. "Lucky...I'm not leaving you. I'm not going anywhere."

"Elizabeth, I'm not giving you a choice."

She looked him square in the eye. "Lucky, did YOU think you were gonna hit me?"

"No," he stated. Certain of that fact. "But I....Elizabeth I saw that look in your eye. You were scared."

"Lucky, I wasn - "

"Elizabeth...I will carry you out of here myself if I - "

"Lucky! This is my home! Do you understand?...There's no going back to Grams! We're in this together. This is our home.....TOGETHER," she finished, grabbing his hand and holding it in hers tightly.

Lucky broke away. "Fine...this can be YOUR home then....but I'm gone." He said, walking to the closet. She followed him as he dragged his large backpack from the corner.

"Lucky please...we have to talk about this.......Lucky, I can't do this! I can't be without you again!" She wailed. Sobs beginning to wrack through her again. "I won't do this!"

"And I can't do this!" He turned around, his tears fast and furious as he tried without effect to wipe them off his face. "I can't sit here and keep hurting you."

"Lucky! God...believe me when I say that I never thought you would hit me! I was just startled...that's all! You didn't hurt me!"

"Elizabeth I hurt you EVERYDAY!" He yelled, throwing his backpack on the bed. "I hurt you so bad tonight, by not believing you when you said that nothing happened. I know you see it in my eyes when I doubt you. I don't want to do it, but I do it anyway! Don't you get it Elizabeth?...I am fucked up in the head!" He said tapping his skull. "We all like to think that I'm good ol' regular levelheaded Lucky...but I'm NOT! Isn't that becoming abundantly clear? I know you look at me and just want the old Lucky back.......Hell, I want him back too!...But I can't seem to make that happen! I can't seem to get these images I have of you and Nikolas out of my head! It's like Faison's got a remote control from the dead and he just pushes the damn play button in my head every time he gets the chance...and I, I'm fortunate enough to get my own personal slide show!"

She watched in hopelessness as he threw item after item into the big bag, going on and on about how he wasn't the same. Why didn't he understand that he didn't have to be anything for her? God, she would do anything to make him see. To take away his pain.

Elizabeth slowly walked behind him, and eased her arms around his waist. His hands stilled as she leaned her head against the middle of his back.

"The only thing I need for you to be is happy," she whispered. "You're already everything I've ever wanted in another human being."

He inhaled slowly as he turned around. His body weary. When he looked into her eyes, he thought he could stay. For the briefest of moments he thought that if they only stayed in this room together for the rest of their lives they'd be ok. He could wrap himself in her soft, loving arms and be safe and happy for the rest of his life. The problem was, could she?

"Stay with me," she whispered, as she caressed his forehead, brushing a strand of silken hair away.

Lucky leaned down, pressing his lips tenderly to hers. Reveling in the feel of her cheeks nestled in his palms, in her sweetness. She moved closer and he deepened the kiss. Just a little. Not too much. Not enough to make him any weaker than he already was.

Lucky pulled away and pursed his lips together, trying to sear the taste of her into his skin. He said only three words as he picked up the bag that lay on the bed and walked slowly over to the door. He turned briefly to look at the most beautiful face he would ever see. "I love you."

~~~~~~~~

"Yes Madam, he's leaving the premises now," the dark figure whispered, speaking into the cellular phone pressed to his ear. He retreated farther into the shadows that cloaked him. "Alone,yes.......................As you wish."

Chapter 48

Lucky turned over on his right side as the tossing and turning that plagued his evening continued. As he fought the thick haze of despair that hindered his sleep. The warmth of his sleeping bag, no camouflage for the cold winter night air or the lack of her warm body next to his.

Caught in the harsh land between sleep and awake, all he could see was her beautiful face. The haunted look in her eyes as he'd opened the door to their room and walked out for perhaps the final time. There was no way he could go back. Not like this. Not like the crazyman that had been at Jake's a few hours ago. He would die before he would subject her to his insanity again.

He curled into a tight ball as a shiver of panic ran through him, as he felt the impact of his fist slamming into the wall once again. He absently rubbed at his swollen knuckles in his sleep. The look in her eyes. For all of his life, he would never forget that look.

*** "No! Damnit, Lucky.....you don't understand! I didn't REMEMBER! God, Lucky I was a different person, I was not the same girl you knew! Lucky there aren't even enough words to describe to you how incredibly lonely I w- "

"YOU were lonely!? You were lone....."***

Blind rage had sent his words off into oblivion. Into the wall right along with his violent hand. Even in his semi-concious state he could still feel the world dropping out from under him. Someone opening a trapdoor beneath his feet at that very moment.

It was almost palpable. That feeling of going from heartache to unspeakable fear, so fast. So furiously. He'd been so mad, so hurt, so completely beyond confused....and suddenly. Suddenly her eyes changed. The world as he knew it changed.

Her entire being had pressed itself against the door. She would have pressed herself inside of the wood if she could have. She looked smaller than he'd ever remembered her being.

***"Di -....Did you think......Elizabeth did you think I was gonna hi - hit you?"

"No...........No."

"Yes. Yes, you did."

"No, Lucky....I swear I didn't."***

She could deny it all she wanted...but she had been scared. And he had put that fear there. For that he would never forgive himself.

Words bombarded his thoughts. Hurtful, distrusting, unkind words. Words that stuck in his heart like a pin cushion now. So many tears. He'd never seen so many tears in his life. Never caused so many. Never hurt her so much. Never hurt himself so much. Never wanted to feel this again.

He would have never hit her. That's what his head knew. That's what his heart knew. The problem was: he wasn't so sure he could trust his head or his heart anymore to tell him the truth. They had both been scarred. Charred in a fire that he had never even been trapped in.

Lucky moaned in his sleep, tossing to his left side. The hard iron floor of the boxcar never had been very forgiving. He felt like he'd outgrown the entire box. He was used to beds now. Used to her bed. Used to having her softness to curl against. To tangle with. To inhale....

"Elizabeth!" He yelled, waking from his fitful sleep. A sheen of sweat covering his pale face. An arctic shiver slithered up the base of his neck.

He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the moist strands that hung in his eyes away from his forehead. He inhaled deeply, trying to shake it off. The sweet smell of Elizabeth quickly faded from his subconscious. Replaced by the unmistakable aroma of mesquite. Some family probably curling up in front of their fireplace together, roasting marshmallows. Some mushy scene.

Lucky licked his parched lips and lay back down, staring at the ceiling. Fighting the urge to run back to her. She didn't need him now.

 ~~~~~~~~~

Laura ran the silver plated brush through her hair one last time as she prepared for bed. Alone.

Much to the dismay of Stephan, moving into his home had not meant moving into his bed. She hadn't been able to bring herself to let him touch her since she'd stepped off the fairy almost a week prior.

A kiss here. A kiss there. The kisses weren't the kind two lovers shared. They were kisses of avoidance, kisses of farewell, kisses of thanks, kisses of remorse.

"You don't love him," she whispered to herself, as she pulled the expensive silk sheet up to her neck. She stared hopelessly at the ceiling. "So why are you here?" She asked herself. "You know exactly where you should be....you should be wi -

She clammed up as the old door creaked open. "Lasha?"

"Yes, Stephan." Laura answered, shaken by the intrusion. She sat up against the antique headboard.

He walked over to her slowly, a smile lacing his features. When he sat down next to her he placed a hand to her cheek. Laura smiled awkwardly.

"You look beautiful," he whispered. His eyes wondering over her face, her hair, her body. He was reminded of a time on the island that had been just like this. When he had come to her in the night after a torturous day of Stavros and Helena circling their heads like black crows. She had welcomed his touch then. The day when she would welcome him again was not far away. Not far at all.

Laura grasped his hand in hers and brought it down to her lap as she held it. "Have I told you how grateful I am for all that you have done for Leslie Lu and I?....You've given us a home, and someone to lean on during this crazy, crazy time. I will never be able to adequately repay you for all that you've done."

"I don't seek any reward for helping you Lasha. Your love is all the thanks I need."

He leaned in then, searching for her lips with his. She pulled away suddenly. "You know Stephan, I'm really tired. It's been a long day at the hospital, and I'd really just like to get some shuteye if that's ok with you?"

Stephan smiled to himself knowingly, and stood. He pecked her lightly on the forehead before retreating. "That's fine Laura.....get your rest. Soon we'll have all the time in the world to be together. They'll be nothing to stand in our way."

As he cleared the threshold and the door whined in closing behind him, she looked down at her hand. Why was she suddenly shaking so badly?

~~~~~~~~

Nikolas shivered as he jogged down his stairs in the darkness. He flipped on a light and scrunched his eyes as he neared the bottom. Padding over to the thermostat he gave quick thought to how it seemed to be getting colder instead of warmer as spring approached.

'Yeah, maybe the weather if following your attitude Cassidine: cold.'

He hadn't been able to sleep the entire night, tossing and turning as he thought about his father and all the secrets. As he thought about the way his father never really answered a question. The way he averted his eyes when asked anything he wasn't comfortable with. All the lies he'd ever been told by his family had bombarded his sleep. Had made him begin to ponder questions he wasn't sure he wanted the answers to. Wasn't sure he could live with the answers to. Had made him think of all the months he'd thought his only brother was dead.

A siren somewhere off in the distance shook him from his thoughts. He rubbed his forearms as he started for the staircase again. "Cheer up Cassidine. Someone out there is having a worse night than you are."

~~~~~~~~

"As if this hangover couldn't get any worse," Luke mumbled, lifting his throbbing head from the hard wood of his desk. His speech slurred under the thick influence of too many shots of Bourbon. Shots downed long after his son had left his office. He was too damn old for hangovers. Hadn't he become immune to the dark side of Lady Bourbon some time in his late 20's?

He swore underneath his breath as he fumbled around in the darkness for his phone. It had to be somewhere on the damn desk. Who the Hell would be calling now? If it was Claude saying he wouldn't be able to make it in the morning, he'd fire his lazy ass. With the way he was feeling right now, he wouldn't be fit to run a lemonade stand let alone an entire bar.

"Hello!" Luke barked, bringing the receiver to his ear in the darkness. "Hello!" He hollered again, as the sound of silence filtered through the other end. "Look damnit! If this is - "

His words ran out, and his blood ran cold as a voice finally drifted through the line. A voice made of pure evil. A voice that belonged to a man that most assuredly should have been resting in a shallow grave somewhere. A man that he had put in that grave himself.

"Tisk, tisk, tisk....that was a funny little trick your son pulled with the line about the fish. A funny little trick indeed. We'll have to see how many other little tricks, Lucas knows...........................................Where is your son Spencer? Do you know where he is sleeping tonight?"

~~~~~~~~~

Lucky sat up again, realizing that sleep was simply not going to come for him tonight. That it might never come again.

His eyes traveled over their memories. Over the dulling evidence of their happiness that still lingered on the walls. 'How did we get through that?' he thought suddenly, rising from his sleeping bag. He walked slowly over to his fridge and ran his hand over the frozen surface.

'How did we manage to get through that summer in one piece?....Not just in one piece, but in love. So completely and totally, head over heals in love with each other. So ready to face anything....How is it that we made it through the worst time in both of our lives and emerged out of it happy and strong and whole?............Why is it so different now? Why can't we do it again?....Why can't we be that happy and strong and whole again?....Why can't *I* be that strong again?....Because you're not, you ass! Because you let Faison fuck with your head until you were unable to recognize anything as the truth anymore. You're weak, that's the problem. You're pissed at yourself, so you take it out on Dad, and Mom, and Elizabeth....you make her walk on eggshells and make her cry every other day.......'

Lucky turned around, glancing at his TV. Remembering all the different stations she had painted for him. Music Videos, Baseball games. She'd done it all just a few months after being raped. After having her entire life stolen from her. 'That's strength Spencer...you could learn a thing or two.....huh! Not if you're not with her you ass!....Why the Hell are you here again? Didn't you promise yourself everyday while you were in that silver cell, that if you ever got a chance to hold her in your arms again, you would never let go? Are you going back on that now? Are you a liar along with everything else you despise now?.....You KNOW that the two of you can handle anything...you've proven that time and time again................Turn around, walk out of the past and walk straight to your future. To Elizabeth.'

The wail of a siren somewhere in the night shook him out his thoughts. Lucky nodded his head, as if in response to his own inner voice. They could handle anything.

"I love you Elizabeth. I'm on my way."