He could've placed the scent a mile away. The unmistakable aroma of fire. Sure and strong. Harsh and potent to the senses. Yet, as he got closer to what his nose could not deny, some part of him....some naive, childlike part still yearned to believe it was a fireplace. It was a cold winter night afterall. It could have been anything.

It didn't matter that he could hear the sirens even clearer now. It didn't matter that he could make out the shouts of firemen. It didn't matter that the sky was no longer midnight blue, but dark - cloudless gray. It didn't matter. It wasn't Jakes. It wasn't Elizabeth.

Despite his minds protest, his pace quickened. As if his body knew something that his brain would not allow itself to register.

As quickly as his feet had begun to move, they came to a startling halt, immobilized by the absence of all reason. His entire body seized by a wave of all consuming fear. It prickled it's way up his frame and through his blood like some kind of deadly virus.

All sound and breathing ceased, as the blinding fire raged before him. Devouring every inch of the home that had only been one for a few days.

It stifled his every thought and burned his every attempt at speech. He wasn't seeing what he was seeing. The heat that warmed his flesh wasn't real. It was all a figment of his imagination. 'Wake up Lucky...wake up...Please God, let me wake up.'

It was a jolt of something seconds later that forced him out of the haze that enveloped his senses. Maybe it was a firefighter running past him and into the arc of flame that stretched before him. Maybe it was someone calling his name. Maybe it was pure instinct. But when the sound broke free from his gut, it was unrestrained, maddening.

"ELIZABETH!!!"

Marcus Taggert looked up, startled by the piercing voice. Instantly horrified by the eyes that were taking it all in for the first time.

He was nearly trampled in his haste to get to Lucky. He had already seen far too much in his young life. He didn't need to see this too. No one needed to see this. He wished to God that he himself didn't have to see it.

Another innocent life taken. It was unreal.

He grabbed the young man by the arms as he tried to run into the quickly disintegrating building. "Lucky! Lucky! No....I can't let you go in th-"

"Get the Hell off of me!" Lucky screamed, his eyes wild. This couldn't be happening. This was all some sick joke.

"Luc - "

"Elizabeth is in there!" He hollered, struggling to break free of Taggert's firm grasp. "I gotta get to her before it's too late!"

Taggert bit his lip, he had been silently praying that Lucky would tell him that Elizabeth was with him. That they'd both been somewhere else that night. Somewhere out having a good time. Enjoying being young and free.

No bodies had been removed from the building yet, and he'd taken that to be a good sign.....but the night was still young. Still enough time for heartbreak. Enough time to repeat some twisted plot in history and change the ending.

Lucky's eyes blinked rapidly against the oncoming tears, against his conscience trying to "break the news to him."

'She's not in there,' he thought, reaching out to the small bits of hope that held on for dear life at the corners of his mind. 'She can't be....I just got her back...I'm not ready to let her go yet....Never...I'm never letting Elizabeth go...She's not in there. She left...we had a fight and she got mad and she left...Oh God! Yes! That's it! She went to Audrey's! She went to stay with her Gram! She got upset and wen - '

"Audrey's been contacted," Taggert whispered, interrupting Lucky's thoughts. "She told us she hadn't seen you or Elizabeth all night....but she's gonna check around....maybe Emily....maybe Nikolas....she should be on her way by now..."

His voice drifted off as he saw Lucky's eyes darken. It was like someone turning off a light somewhere behind his eyes. He continued at the eerie silence. "Lucky, let these people do their jobs," Taggert said, his voice soft as he pointed to the firefighters behind him.

She hadn't gone to Audrey's. She and Emily weren't close enough to knock on each others doors in the late evening hours anymore. She wouldn't have gone to Nikolas after what had happened between them in that room. She hadn't taken a walk by herself at night in years. All those "didn'ts" and "wouldn'ts" added up to only one other option. It was that option that pounded deafeningly in his ears and pushed him forward.

Taggert grabbed hold of him again, as he tried to rush past. Lucky squirmed and pushed against him. Every muscle in his body straining. "Damnit Taggert I have to get in there!"

"Lucky there's nothing you can do! You want these guys to have to pull you out too?! Is that what you want? Any time that they have to spend on you is just gonna slow them down from bringing Elizabeth out! I know that's not what you want! Calm down!!!"

"I'm not gonna calm down damnit! She's - " Lucky's voice broke off at the sound of his name being called from behind. "Dad!" Lucky yelled, whirling around as his father ran towards him. "She's in there! I gotta get to her! They won't let -....Dad, you gotta help me get to - "

Luke's mouth dropped open in silent relief at the sight of his son. Talking. Breathing. Alive. The phone call at the club had sent him racing into the night, sent his mind reeling into places it couldn't bear to go again. The first signs of flame from his car window had almost been too much. He tried even now to gulp back the fear that was still lodged in his throat.

The fear wouldn't leave. It wrapped itself tighter still around his neck, threatening to squeeze the life out of him like a boa constrictor as he watched the terror in his son's eyes unfold.

Luke placed a hand on either of his son's shoulders, and forced the words from his lips. "Lucky...is she in there?" He asked quietly, staring him in the eyes. He already knew the answer.

Lucky stood for a moment. Unblinking. His eyes swimming with tears. His lips slightly parted in an effort to breathe. He couldn't say a word. The only thing he could hear was his heart beating in his ears like an erratic drum.

A second later he wheeled around, racing towards the building again. There was no time to debate whether she was in the building or not. No time to wait and and see. Dear God, didn't anyone understand that he had to get into the building?

The blast that shook the ground beneath them a moment later settled the answer to that question. A huge ball of flame burst through the roof of Jakes like a horrible volcano, sending chunks of debris flying into the air. Glass blew over them like ash, showering everything. The neon sign that had illuminated their lovemaking in the middle of the night sailed through the air in one giant gust of power.

They all fell to the ground, covering their heads and their eyes from the airborne weapons. It would be moments before the stillness that hung in the air subsided. Moments before anyone was on their feet again.

~~~~~~~~~

Nikolas jolted upright from his pillow and glanced quickly around the room. He could have sworn that the entire bed had just been picked up and sat back down. He glanced towards the glass of water that sat on his nightstand and noticed the ripples floating towards the outer confines. There were no earthquakes in Port Charles, right?

"What the Hell was that?" he whispered.

 ~~~~~~~~~

Laura woke with a start, as a shiver of something dreadful ran up her spine. She tingled everywhere even now as she sat up. It was a sensation that had once been familiar. A feeling that had abandoned her when she had needed it most. Why was it making a return visit now?

Something implored her not to question it. Laura rolled over towards the antique phone. She needed to talk to Luke.

 ~~~~~~~~~

Luke caught his son right before his legs gave out beneath him, and half walked - half dragged him over to the curb to sit down. Away from the nothingness in front of him. The yellow police tape. The rubble. The smoking, vacant lot where Jakes' had once stood. Where he had tried to begin his life again.

He took the blue blanket that the firefighters had given him and wrapped it around Lucky's trembling shoulders. He wasn't saying anything. He hadn't said a word since the blast. Not one, single solitary utterance had escaped his lips. Luke kneeled down in front of his son, looking for any sign of recognition in his eyes.

Vacant. Just like the lot behind him. No thoughts. No tears. Nothing.

Giving him hope would have been the kind thing to do. But would it be false hope? His voice was as raspy as smoke when it hit the crisp air of the early morning hours. "They didn't find anything Lucky....anybody," he said. Hoping deep inside that it was because Elizabeth had been somewhere else, and not because her body had been blown to irrecoverable bits in the blast.

Lucky blinked his eyes and sniffled, as he turned towards his father. "I hope Elizabeth remembered to get those paintings from under the bed," he stated. His voice hallow. "She thinks I haven't seen them...but I have," he went on, lowering his voice to a conspiratory whisper. "She did them when I was away....some of them are really sad....She's really sad somtimes. But I'm gonna make her happy Dad. I promise I will."

Luke bit down on his lip and tried his damndest to swallow around the hard lump in his throat. He could only nod his head in response.

Why the Hell did his son have to go through this? There was only one answer for that: Helena.

She had to have done this. It was like some physchotic retelling of an old story. Luke raked a hand through the sparse hair atop his head. It didn't make sense. If Helena had wanted to get to Lucky, wouldn't she have made sure a body was found? ANY body? Luke shivered at the deja vu that hung in the air like a thick, smothering cloud.

It just wasn't her style though. She was calculating, slick. Her main objective in life was to be unique. This had been done before, and it hadn't ended well for her.

Luke rubbed circles over Lucky's back and blinked back his own tears as he watched him rock himself back and forth on the curb. He searched his mind for the right thing to say.

Lucky looked up at his father, and began to give up his battle against the tears. They slid, one by one in rivulets down his cheeks.

"I know you think I'm crazy," he whispered, his voice cracking in pain. "But she's not gone....she's here." He placed a hand to his chest and rubbed a small semicircle around his aching heart. "She's right here...I feel her."

Luke pulled his son to his chest as he began to sob. Overcome by the pain that bubbled up inside of him and threatened to drown him. His whole body shook violently with the events of the night. Luke shushed him and rocked him as he mumbled the same tragic words over and over again. "She's not gone. She's not gone. She's not gone..."

Chapter 50

Laura pressed a hand to her lips and shut her eyes tight against the tears. Against the sound of her son heaving his guts into the toilet once again. He'd been locked inside the bathroom since they'd arrived home almost two hours prior.

She'd never heard a sound more wretched in her life.

Luke's eyes met his wife's as she looked up at him expectantly from her place on the couch. He wished he could tell her something good. Tell her everything was going to be ok, but at this point he didn't know anything. He didn't know a damn thing.

"He won't let me in," Luke sighed wearily as he came to stand next to the couch. "He keeps tellin' me to go away."

Laura let the tears fall as the morning sun began to shine through the curtains behind them. An unusually sunny day. It was the kind of bitter irony that made you want to laugh and shake your fist at the heavens. She looked down at her own helpless hands as Luke spoke. "Is there any news?"

"No," she whispered, running a hand through her long golden tresses. "Mac called...but, he didn't say anything new. They've been searching the rubble for the last few hours....still trying to rule out arson I guess. Still no..........bodies," she paused for a long moment as the emotion of losing someone that had become like a daughter to her threatened to overtake her.

She wouldn't do this. She couldn't do this now. They didn't know for sure that Elizabeth was gone yet. Besides, when Lucky came down those stairs the last thing he was going to need was a blubbering idiot of a mother.

Laura quickly ran a hand beneath her eyes, trying to rid herself of the errant tears.

Luke placed a hand on his wife's back, rubbing in circles. "That's a good sign darlin,' it's gotta be. Jake was out of town, and the only other tenant besides Lucky and Elizabeth apparently hit the road a few days ago.....Chances are Elizabeth wasn't there either."

Laura shook her head slightly and looked deep into her husband's eyes. They were both thinking the same thing. "Then where is she?" she asked.

God she didn't want to think what she was thinking, but she couldn't help not to. If she had thought it the last time, she could have saved her entire family a world of grief. They would have never lost so much time together. Never been hurt so much.

"I know what you're thinking Laura, but it's just not her style. Helena wouldn't repeat the same damn pattern over again. It's just not her thing," Luke said, shaking his head.

The phone call he'd received the night before still nagged at the back of his mind. Someone had wanted him to go looking for his son. Someone had wanted him to think that Lucky was in danger. But who? Faison was dead. He knew that like he knew his own name.

"No, Elizabeth probably just went somewhere," he continued, knowing his Laura needed reassurance. "I mean, she lost touch with everyone for a lot of months there Laura. She was off in her own world.......maybe she's got someplace that she goes that nobody knows abou - "

"The boxcar!" Laura said hopefully, her voice rising at the possibility.

Luke shook his head sadly. "I checked."

Laura looked back down at her hands. Simply helpless. They both looked up towards the ceiling when they heard the toilet flush again. "Her parents?" she asked silently, never averting her eyes from their current direction.

"Audrey is contacting them....I don't know what she's going to do. This is going to destroy her."

~~~~~~~~~~

Lucky pushed himself away from the porcelain bowl in front of him and lay down on the cold tile beneath him. His head felt as if someone had mistaken it for a drum. The pounding never ceased. It only seemed to get stronger as time passed.

How much time had passed anyway? Weeks? Days? Minutes? He couldn't tell. Life seemed to be moving in slow motion. It was like he was hovering above his own body and looking down at this fog that surrounded him. His voice ached to say something, to scream out that everything was all wrong, but he couldn't. It was as if he were having one of those dreams where no one could hear him scream. Where he opened his mouth and nothing came out. A nightmare.

A nightmare that wouldn't let him forget that it was real life. He curled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his empty, aching stomach, praying that he wouldn't have to get up again. Ever.

There couldn't possibly be anything left to throw up. He hadn't eaten in........how long had it been? He vaguely remembered Fries....Cherry Coke? Music?....Luke's. Elizabeth.

His lip trembled furiously as the tears set in again, sliding across the bridge of his nose and landing on the frosty linoleum. His diaphragm contracted violently, wrenching forth his sobs. They started low at first, like they had since he'd locked himself in his old bathroom, but soon they were back at full force.Tearing at the lining of his throat as they hit the air.

This wasn't real was it? It couldn't be.

A month? God, wouldn't be as cruel as to give them a mere month together before separating them again. No. He couldn't accept that. Couldn't accept that he would never see that face again. Never hold her body next to his. No...

He wailed her name over and over again as his lips brushed against the tile. As his fingertips clawed for something to hang on to. "Elizabeth...Elizabeth......Elizabeth please God...don't take my Elizabeth....," he couldn't breathe anymore. His voice hoarse. His tears soaking his cheeks. The floor. Not doing a damn bit of good.

He had to throw up again.

~~~~~~~~~

"Is there any news yet?" Nikolas asked, moving quickly into his mother's house.

Luke sighed as he made his way over towards the mantle. This was the last thing his son needed. "No, little Count. Why don't you go back to the castle and wait. We'll give you a call if anything changes...it's too bright outside for you to be out and about anyway."

"Luke!" Laura yelled. "This is not the time for that."

Nikolas glared at Luke as he bent down to hug Laura. When he pulled away he ran a hand over his face tiredly. He tried to reign in his emotions as his bottom lip began to tremble once again.

"I can't believe this," he whispered shaking his head. He looked up into Laura's water logged eyes. "Do you think Helena had anything to do with this?"

"We don't know," Laura said softly, reaching out to wipe a tear that had escaped her son's eye. He shook his head again in disbelief. How could this have happened.

"How is he?" he asked suddenly, looking towards the stairs. Already knowing the answer.

Laura shook her head silently. There were no words adequate enough to describe the kind of anguish she'd seen in her son's eyes. She would never forget the look on his face when she'd shown up on the scene. His baby blues looked as if nothing would ever be ok again. That nothing in the world would ever be right or good or sweet, ever again. She swallowed around the lump in her throat and addressed her eldest son. "Honey would you do me a favor?"

"Anything," he said in earnest.

"Your sister is at her grandmother's house, but I have a feeling that she knows something is very wrong........If you could maybe just go over there and play with her for a little while - "

"You stay the Hell away from my little sister."

The voice was cold enough to freeze water. Hard enough to cut glass.

Nikolas looked at his brother as he moved slowly down the stairs. His clothes and hair disheveled. His eyes completely bloodshot. He started towards the door. Something telling him that the quicker he got out of his brother's site, the better. "I just came to see how everyone was doing Lucky....And to see if there was any news on Eliza - "

"Don't you speak her name," Lucky said, closing the space between them in an instant. Luke moved stealthily away from the mantle and towards the two men on his front step. He watched Lucky's hands twitch by their sides. "You hear me? I don't want to hear her name come out of your mouth.....Why did you come here? Did you come here to see if your family finished the job? Elizabeth is gone Nikolas. Is that what you wanted to hear? Huh?! Huh?!"

Laura wailed as Lucky slammed Nikolas up against the door, his hands wrapping around his neck in unharnessed aggression. Unleashing a fury that she had never seen from her son before. His eyes almost glowed with something disturbing. Something menacing.

They'd all seen him angry before. But this....this was.....she covered her mouth as Luke moved forward, grasping Lucky from behind as Nikolas' face became paler and paler by the second.

"Come on cowboy...come on...It's ok." He said, pulling him off. It was a lot easier than he thought it would be. He didn't put up a fight, he didn't offer any resistance. Lucky's body simply sagged limply against his.

Nikolas blinked back tears as he watched Luke drag his brother towards the couch. Watched as the strongest man he'd ever known broke down into silent tears in the arms of his father. Dear God, what had his family done?

 ~~~~~~~~~

There was absolutely nothing like waking up in a room that wasn't yours. A room that you'd never seen before. Never visited. Had no memory of being brought to.

No idea how long you'd been there, or when you could leave. Especially when the only door in the entire room refused to budge an inch. Even when your pressed your entire weight against it. Even when you screamed and kicked. There was nothing more disturbing than waking up totally alone, but knowing with every fiber of your being that you were being watched.

Lying back down on the small double bed, she shut her eyes and tried to think rationally as the throbbing in her head grew more incessant. As the pain exploded behind her eyes in wondrous shapes and colors. She dared not open her eyes again. It hurt more to open them. Hurt more to be blinded by the shiny gleam of silver that surrounded her.