Luke checked his watch one more time. Laura should have called him by now. He hadn't heard from her since their brief conversation on his cellphone, an hour earlier when he'd been at the club. She'd told him she would come straight home and meet them there, but when he'd arrived in his living room the only people there had been Lucky and Nikolas.

He glanced at his son as he shifted restlessly from foot to foot, waiting anxiously for Sonny's helicopter to land. Luke couldn't help but be swept back about an hour before to his living room.

He'd heard Lucky's voice from the driveway, accusing Nikolas of all sorts of atrocities. Horrific things that Luke would have accused him of himself had he thought Nikolas had any idea of what was going on. Yet he knew, the boy was just as clueless as the rest of them were. Probably even more so.

But Lucky hadn't thought that, and for the briefest of moments he had been ready to make his brother pay for what he might have had a part in: Elizabeth's kidnapping. Luke shuttered now when he replayed the scene in his head. His son with the cold, black, steel handle of a gun gripped tightly in his hands. Even though he knew in his heart that his son wouldn't have murdered his own brother, it still scared him to think of how desperate Lucky must have been to pull a gun in the first place.

Luke woke from his daydream when he heard his son call for him.

"Dad!..Where the Hell is this helicopter?! We gotta get out of here.....we can't wait anymore."

Every word out of his mouth was like a rapidly fired bullet. One after another, each so intensely important.

"Lucky...it should be here any minute." Luke said. He knew nothing he said would calm his son down now. He wouldn't be calm until he saw Elizabeth. Until he had her in his arms. But he also knew that Lucky had to find some semblance of control or he'd never make it.

He walked over to where Lucky paced across the helipad. Moving back and forth over the big red X that marked the landing site. Lucky jumped when his father placed a hand on his shoulder. "Lucky...listen to me. You gotta calm down."

Lucky glared at him. How the Hell was he supposed to calm down?

"You wanna tell me how I'm supposed to remain calm when Helena's got Elizabeth's life in her hands?"

Luke nodded. "Point taken Lucky...but you know as well as I do......BETTER than I do in fact, that you've gotta keep your cool when dealing with the She Devil from Hell.........Helena is countin' on you bein' short one card of a full deck right now Cowboy..........I think we both know we're walkin' into a trap here."

Lucky licked his lips and turned around, looking up towards the stars. Every minute that Liz spent in his former hell, made him want to jump right out of his skin. But he knew Luke was right. Everything he said was true. He had to take a deep breath and regroup. Start thinking with a clear head. For Liz's sake. For everyone's sake.

He was also right about them walking into a trap. It was obvious from Helena's note that she wanted Lucky to find Elizabeth, and the only reason she could possibly want him to succeed at anything, was so that she could set him up for an even bigger failure.

Lucky shoved his hands deep into his pockets and turned back towards his father. "Cairo."

"What?" Luke said, taken aback by Lucky's voice coming emerging from the darkness.

"Helena seems to have some twisted need to replay events. That's why I know Elizabeth is in Cairo," he looked down at his feet. "In the same damn cell...."

Luke nodded. They'd discussed this all on the way to the penthouse and it still seemed like the most plausible plan for Helena. Luke held Lucky's gaze for a moment before hearing his son's words trail off. He then glanced down at his watch.

"Have you heard from Mom yet?" Lucky asked, reading his father's distracted expression.

"No," Luke answered. His voice hallowing out as he scratched his head. Something was beginning to turn in the pit of his stomach. "She should have called by now. You know your mother....she should be up here demanding to come along - usually by this point, I'd be ready to launch into my 'it's too dangerous speech.' "

For the first time in what seemed like months, Lucky laughed and Luke looked up at him. It was almost like seeing him for the first time.

The laughter wasn't loud or boisterous. But it was a chuckle, a chuckle that came from the result of understanding. A result of prior experiences with his mother and father. Knowing his father's words were true, and that his mother would have found a way to come along anyway.

Luke's eyes turned towards the sky as the whir of helicopter blades drowned out his thoughts. When he looked back at his son, what he saw astounded him even more than the sound of his laughter had just seconds before.

His whole demeanor had changed. The hot-headed, panicked kid was gone. He was suddenly the definition of the phrase: calm, cool, and collected.

He was reminded of the Lucky he'd known before all the trauma of the last year. A boy, with the mental and emotional capacity of a man. A boy who had lived through time and experiences that no one should have had to live through. A boy that seemed to gain wisdom with every breath he took. A boy that was quite frankly, no longer a boy, but a man.

Lucky was a man that had learned how to handle himself in a crisis long ago.

Luke picked up his satchel and followed his son as he stalked quickly towards the landing helicopter. He would handle that crisis now, just as he had everything else in life.

Lucky threw his backpack in the cockpit and turned to face his father. "Go track her down Dad."

"What?" Luke asked not comprehending his son's words or the sudden confidence in his voice. "Huh?"

"Go get Mom....find her. I don't trust her being anywhere near Wyndemere right now..........make sure she's alright.............Then you can come and help me."

Luke regarded the man in front of him for a moment. What the Heck had just happened here?

He could only nod slowly and watch as Lucky boarded the helicopter. This was his fight.

~~~~~~~~~

"Stephan," Laura sighed, pulling her arm away from his firm grasp. "I don't have time for this......I have to get to my son - "

"You're son should be here soon. I've invited him for dinner at Wyndemere this evening."

Laura tilted her head to the side, understanding taking a second to dawn on her. "I'm not talking about Nikolas.....I'm talking about Lucky."

Stephan sighed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

She wasn't going to take the bait tonight. There were too many other things on her mind. Too many things she had to do. She had to get home before Lucky and Luke left.

"Stephan, I'm sorry if I've offended you, but I really have to get home. I can't let Lucky leave withou- "

"Without what, Lasha? Surely you can't be suggesting that you go with him on this wild goose chase?"

Laura almost laughed out loud. Almost. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting. My son needs me!...and really Stephan, the woman he loves is alive! I'd hardly call that a Wild Goose Chase!"

"You other son needs you! NIKOLAS needs you!.....Or have you forgotten about him Lasha? I can assure you that I haven't. I see his pain. I feel his pain. Everytime he speaks of the Webber girl I can hear the pain in his voice. I can literally feel the same anguish that I have felt everytime I've spoken or looked at you for the last 20 years! Do you have any idea what it's like?!" Stephan yelled, grabbing her arm again in mid-tirade.

"Any idea what it's like to love and worship someone that doesn't love you back? That doesn't feel as if you're worthy of them? Worthy enough to shine even their lovers' shoes?! Do you?!"

Laura glared at him, her eyebrows raised in something very close to horror. Who was the man in front of her? He couldn't have been the Stephan that had taken her in after Lucky's "death." That had pulled her off of those train tracks. She did not know the man in front of her.

Her voice was nearly inaudible as it hit the air. It was the same register one would use with someone about to jump off the ledge of a skyscraper. "Stephan...I love the both of my sons, but Elizabeth has never returned Nikolas' feelings for her. She has always been in love with Lucky," Laura swallowed hard before continuing.

"In fact, I'm afraid that is where your comparison between she and I is flawed. You see........she has never doubted her feelings for the man she loves. I on the other hand have wavered, and abused your emotions horribly in the process...Stephan, for that I am truly sorry..........But this is where it ends. I know what I want now."

She didn't say it. She didn't name what she wanted. Or rather, who she wanted. But she didn't have to. It was written in her eyes, and Stephan read it with his own. He knew as well as she did that if she walked out of that door right now she'd be headed straight to Luke, and there'd be no looking back. What she didn't know is that he had no intention of letting her walk out of that door.

~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth glanced at the small video camera near the ceiling out of her peripheral vision. She quickly returned her gaze to the food in front of her. Mashed potatoes, roasted chicken, and a fresh green Caesar salad that called her name. Apparently Helena hadn't deemed Ely's take-out an essential for holding someone prisoner anymore.

Her stomach churned and her salivary glands went into overdrive regardless of that fact. She hadn't eaten since she's been in this Hell hole, and she wasn't going to start now. She wasn't. Even if she felt like she could no longer move a muscle without it hurting.

Who the Hell knew what Helena had in the food anyway?

'God, Elizabeth you never heard Lucky talk about being poisoned by Helena did you?...Just eat it. You want to eat it soooooo bad it's not even funny anymore........No, damnit, Webber just stick to the plan. You have to do this!'

Elizabeth reached out with a shaky hand and forked a small scoop of the white, creamy potatoes into her mouth, pushing it to the side of her cheek with her tongue. She repeated the routine a few times, until her mouth could no longer accomodate anymore food. Careful not to make herself appear like a chipmunk in the process.

She dropped her hand towards the tray of food slowly, making sure the long sleeve of her flannel slid down her forearm and past her small wrist. It was the same flannel she'd been wearing in bed the night they'd taken her. Lucky's flannel.

A split second later she was doubled over in mock pain, lurching over the tray of food and making sounds that would have woken the dead.

She heaved the contents of her mouth out slowly, rocking back and forth on the bed to add to the effect of her sudden bout with nausea. The horrendous sounds of her heaving echoed back and forth within the small room.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh Good Lord, what has she done now?" Helena sighed, leaning towards the monitor and wrinkling her brow in disdain. The sound coming from that room was enough to make her want to be sick herself.

Helena's latest boy toy grinned amorously behind her. He wondered when she'd gotten into the habit of calling upon higher beings of any form. He dared not call her words into question, however. "Would madam like me to go check on Miss Webber?"

Helena turned to the young stallion before her. "No...you stay here with me," she smiled sweetly. "Instruct one of the guards to go attend to her.......One of the big, scary ones," she added with a chuckle.

"Yes, madam," he smirked.

"Oh, and unless she's got a fever of some kind please don't bother me with whatever issues she's having with the food."

The Adonis before her bowed before leaving to carry out her orders. "Yes, madam. As you wish."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Nikolas bounded into the foyer, calling his father's name as if his life depended on it.

Stephan jogged quickly down the stairs, running a hand through his tousled hair. "Yes, Nikolas what I can I do for you? I wasn't expecting y - "

"Is my mother here?" Nikolas asked, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Stephan took a deep breath, trying to calm his pulse. "No, Nikolas I haven't seen your mother in a few hours. I can only assume that she went back home to be with Lucky.....in his time of need," he finished looking down.

"His time of need?" Nikolas asked, tilting his head to the side and catching his father's eyes with his own. "You do know that Elizabeth is alive, right?"

Stephan nodded and licked his dry lips before grinning. "Yes, Laura informed me of that when she was here earlier." He approached his son with arms open wide. "I couldn't be happier for you Nikolas."

Nikolas brushed him off, moving quickly out of the embrace. "Did you know?"

"Excuse me?" Stephan asked, dumfounded as to what he could have meant.

"You know exactly what I'm asking you father. Did you KNOW that Elizabeth was alive? Did you know that Helena had her?"

"Nikolas, these accusations are growing tiresome."

"Did you know!!!!!!!!!!" Nikolas shouted, the walls of the old castle seeming to reverberate with the sound of his voice.

Stephan sighed and ran a hand over his black suit jacket before answering. He tried to compose his already frazzled nerves. Nikolas could never know that everything he'd done had been for him. His son and Laura. They were the only ones that mattered.

"Nikolas, I can not be held responsible for the actions of your grandmother. Her capacity for evil is beyond my understanding. Just as it is yours."

Nikolas stood silent for a moment, wondering if there was even a shred of truth to anything his father said anymore. And why he couldn't just give him a straight answer. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a straight answer. He almost laughed. It was the one thing that had always bonded he and his brother. The fact that they'd both been lied to. Yet, he'd even managed to tear that bond apart by turning into someone that lied to his brother.

No one had said anything, but he had wondered about the circumstances surrounding Liz's kidnapping. Lucky hadn't been at Jake's that night. Why? He'd bet money on it having something to do with his trying to 'fix' things at Luke's earlier that night.

Nikolas cleared his throat. "Nothing this family does is beyond my understanding anymore."

Stephan's words to stop went unheeded as Nikolas headed towards the door at a brisk pace. Yet, his son's footsteps did fall silent a second later as he came face to face with Luke.

Nikolas put a hand out to stop Luke as he entered the foyer. "Has Lucky gone in search of Elizabeth? Where?" he asked, not even allowing Luke to enter completely in the room.

Luke sighed, and brushed his arm away as he entered the room to face Stephan. The man looked more tired than he felt. "Did you learn nothing from this morning, Nikolas?...Why do you care?"

"He's my brother."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh well, that explains everything."

He walked past Nikolas. "Steffy you don't happen to know where my wife is do you? I know she likes to frequent this place from time to time when she's feeling batty."

"No," Stephan said bluntly, waiting for the man to leave his premises.

"Well, thank you that helps," Luke smirked tiredly. "Alright...well, go back to your coffin, or wherever you're curr - "

Luke's voice cut off as a loud clang thudded somewhere above them. "What the Hell was that?" He asked, looking up towards the ceiling.

Stephan looked up and licked his lips. "Renovations. The bell tower is being restored."

The corner of Luke's mouth turned up in disgust. "Dandy......See ya."

"Wait a minute!" Nikolas shouted, getting in the way of Luke's exit. "I want to know where my brother is. Is it Cairo? Does he think that's where Helena's holding Liz? You might as well tell me Luke, I'm gonna find him and I'm gonna do whatever I have to do to help him."

Both Nikolas and Luke jumped at the sound of the irate voice behind them. "Over my dead body!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Lucky leaned forward in his seat, going over the map that he'd drawn from memory. All the twists, turns and tunnels that would lead him to Liz. Lead him back into the horror that he'd thought he'd escaped forever.

"Hey Lucky, you might as well get some sleep," Sonny advised leaning over in his seat next to him.

Lucky shook his head. He wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. "I'll sleep later.....I couldn't go to sleep now if I tried anyway."

Sonny nodded and looked out at the darkening sky. "She'll be ok Lucky."

"She has to be."

~~~~~~~~~~~

She grasped her stomach and heaved an even more gutteral cry from her aching throat as the steel door slid open.

'Oh, my favorite one,' Liz thought watching as the guard approached her. It was the one that had made her skin crawl for the past few days. She felt like curling up inside herself everytime he brought her food, or a change of clothes. It was something about the way he eyed her. Or his size. She didn't know which.

But she didn't have time to analyze her physche now. She only had time to act. Timing was everything.

He silently and quickly approached her. Muttering something about eating too fast because she'd been trying to starve herself. She shivered when he touched her head to see if she was feverish. He quickly surmised that she wasn't and barked an order for her to lie down and relax.

She did it and watched him closely as he bent to remove the tray of food from her bed.

Before he could turn back around or take his next breath, the fork she'd slipped under her sleeve was imbedded in his back. Before he could scream, it was plunged into his flesh yet again, and again.

Chapter 54

"Over my dead body!"

Luke turned around, facing Stephan's angry scowl. He seemed desperate to keep Nikolas away from Cairo. He turned back to Nikolas.

"Well, that's reason enough for me to let ya go," Luke announced sarcastically.

Nikolas snorted unamused. "Why not father? Why don't you want me to go help my brother?"

Luke rolled his eyes at the Cassidine family moment. He didn't have time for this.

"I don't trust Helena," Stephan asserted. "If Cairo is indeed where she's holding the Webber girl, she's not going to make it easy for Lucky to find her. I don't want you in danger."

"Come on Cassidine, you know Mommy Dearest would never harm her precious grandson."

"I know nothing of the sort. My mother is lethal...in fact, I'm surprised you're not out helping your son right now. Surely you don't think that just because he's avoided Helena's wrath for the last few months that it's over. I promise you she has not given up her desire for revenge on you and your entire family."

Luke's eyes narrowed. "Don't you worry your ugly little head about me and mine, alright Stiffy. As soon as I find my wife - "

"Surely you don't expect to take Lasha with you!"

Luke tilted his head to the side. "I expect that LAURA will do what my wife has always done. Which is whatever she wants to do."

Stephan ran a hand through his hair. "Well I pity her then. You obviously have no regard for safety...I hope that where ever she is, she stays there...out of your line of destruction."

Luke turned to Nikolas. "How did you ever put up with his melodramatics?"

Nikolas looked down at his shoes. For someone who was always so calm. So on top of things, his father sure was talking in riddles. Did Luke notice it too?

"Well, if you're so desperate to find Laura, why don't you check your house? You know, the one that you never sleep in."

Luke grinned at Stephan's pathetic attempt at making him jealous. Yet he removed his cellphone from his pocket just the same. "I think I'll do that Steffy...right now."

He dialed his home phone number, deciding to check the messages just in case Laura had left one. Maybe they'd simply missed each other. Maybe she'd taken LuLu and gotten the Hell out of dodge.

He listened as Laura's voice came over the speaker as clear as day, telling him that she was sorry she'd missed them, and that she, Leslie and LuLu were heading to the Carolinas. That she didn't trust Helena not to go after their daughter as well. That they would be safe there.

For once she'd done what he would have told her to do. 'Good thinkin' with your head Baby,' he thought to himself. 'The farther you and LuLu are away from all of this crap...the better I'll feel.'

Luke sighed as he punched the end button on his phone. "I'm takin off junior," he said, glancing at Nikolas. "It's obvious that your father woke up on the wrong side of the coffin and I'm wasteing my time here....I've got witches to drop houses on and such."

Nikolas watched as Luke left the parlor. He, himself could not stand another minute of looking at his father. At that moment, he seemed the Ghoul that Luke had always taken him for. He turned to him before leaving. "I'm gonna find a way to help my brother...no matter what."

~~~~~~~~

Lucky zipped up the leather bomber jacket and turned up the collar. The wind was biting tonight. He looked up at the sky. It was the brightest sky he'd ever seen. The stars twinkled like gems thrown against a black velvet backdrop. So beautiful even his father might have be convinced that there was a God.

He shivered at the irony of both Heaven and Hell being so near.

If his calculations were correct, the compound in which he'd spent the better part of a year was less then 3 miles away. He looked up towards the miraculous sky once again. "Please God, let her be ok."

Lucky turned towards Sonny and Jason as they stepped from the helicopter. He took a deep breath. "This is it guys...the end of the road."

Jason shook his head. "Nah, Lucky...we're coming with you."

"Yeah, I mean you didn't think this was just a 'drop off' kinda deal did you?" Sonny asked, scratching the back of his head.

Lucky sighed. "You guys...I appreciate all you've done. But seriously. This is it. I have to do this myself. I'm not taking you guys into that Hell."

"Luc - "

"Nah, nah..." Sonny said, placing a hand in front of Jason. "If he doesn't want us to go with him. He doesn't want us to go. We can respect that."

"Thank you," Lucky nodded slightly.

Sonny shook his head. "Not a problem. You do what you have to do."

Lucky reached out to shake both men's hands. "Thanks again. I really appreciate this.......See ya in a few days huh?" He smiled a smile that wasn't quite sincere. Wasn't quite as self-assured as he wished it had been.

"See ya then," Jason said. "Maybe when you get back you'll start to think about maybe actually getting a job....becoming a wage earner again. The tax payers don't wanna support you forever, and I gotta new business that I'm thinking about opening up. It'd be something like what you did for me before..."

Lucky licked his lips. "Maybe...yeah. Ok..I hate to cut this short b - "

Sonny interrupted. "But ya gotta go....Get out of here."

"See ya."

Jason watched as Lucky disappeared into the night. Taking off as fast as his feet could move. "We're not really leaving him alone out here are we?"

"Not on his life."

 ~~~~~~~~~~

She kept replaying the events in her head. The blood that gushed all over her hands. The weight of her legs as they carried her down the winding hall. The dark corridor. The sickening feeling that crept through her entire body as a burly set of arms wrapped around her midsection from behind. Sending a wave of fear crashing over her in a blinding flash of memory. The way her legs were swept from under her as if they were nothing.

The pierce of the needle as it was stuck deep into the flesh of her forearm.

If she just kept thinking about it, replaying it, she wouldn't go crazy right? She wouldn't lose her mind if it kept working. Kept processing information. Despite the darkness that surrounded her, the complete and utter quiet that enveloped her? She felt like screaming! Every nerve in her body wanted to make noise. God, was she already losing her mind?

A voice emanating from the small square of light broke her from her thoughts. She grabbed her throbbing head at a mere whisper from the witch that had locked her up in a new cell. A dungeon.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk...My dear Miss Webber, it is a shame that you had to make your time here an unpleasant one. I gave you the lushest of accommodations, and how do you repay me? By stabbing one of my employees. Granted he wasn't the smartest, or most valuable of my servants...but a servant nonetheless. And with the damage you caused, he won't be able to work for a few days. I'm afraid you will have to pay for costing me an employee....Are you listening to me Miss Webber?"

Helena chuckled at the deafening silence. "Well, I assume since you have no music to listen to in there, or books to keep you busy that you are indeed listening to me. In a few moments I'll have Wyatt bring you a snack. Try not to attack him the way you did Luther. I'm afraid Wyatt is a lot less accommodating than Luther ever was......oh well. Ta ta dear."

"Oh! I almost forgot, to tell you," Helena smiled, turning back towards the small window that allowed her only a small view of her captors face. "I'm expecting Lucky very soon. His chopper disappeared from radar a few moments ago, so either it went down in a fiery blaze or he's currently on foot." Helena chuckled and tapped her fingers together in glee over her own morbid joke.

"Anyway...I'm sorry it had to come to this, Elizabeth dear. I know the damage that solitary confinement can cause to one's pyhsche. You've probably seen the evidence of that in your dear boyfriend Lucky." She watched in satisfaction as a look of recognition registered across Elizabeth's face.

"Well dear, there are still many arrangements to be made before he arrives........Sleep well."

Elizabeth rolled over on the hard ground beneath her. "Please Lucky...just turn around. Go home."

~~~~~~~~~

Stephan dialed his pilot's number feverishly, counting the rings as they sounded in his ear. "Pick up damn it," he muttered under his breath.

"Good afternoon sir, how my I he- "

"Capt. Gutenburg you are under no circumstances to allow my son access to the Cassidine jet. Is that clear?"

"But si-"

"Under NO circumstances!!! Have I made myself abundantly clear?!"

"Yes sir. Zero access. I understand."

"See that you do," Stephan growled before slamming down the receiver.

He would stop Nikolas from going to Cairo. There was no way he'd allow his son to get caught in the crossfire between Helena and Luke Spencer. He'd die before he'd let that happen.

 ~~~~~~~~~

Luke slammed down the phone and placed his nice, new pilots hat on. He rounded the side of the jet and opened the door. "Get in kid, before I change my mind...Your father's gonna send out a search party for your royal ass in a few minutes."

Nikolas nodded and hopped in beside a man that he never thought he'd be associating with, let alone joining forces with. This was truly one for the record books.

He turned towards Luke, with a slight grin on his face. "How did you learn all those accents?"

"Practice kid...years of practice.............Fasten your seatbelt."

~~~~~~~~~

Laura emptied yet another box chalked full of Cassidine momentoes, in her desperate attempt to make noise. To cause a commotion. To destroy as much Cassidine crap as she could.

Luke had been there. She could feel it. Yet he wasn't coming upstairs. Had he left?

'Think Laura...think. There's no way he could have been here. He left for Cairo hours and hours ago. How could he possibly be here? And after that message that Stephan forced you to leave.....It's up to you now. You have to find a way to get out of here.'

Laura heaved a box of memorabilia above her head and towards the steel door. "Help me!" She screamed, as loud as her lungs would allow. "Help me!"

"Damnit!" she hollered, sinking to the floor amidst the terrible mess she'd made. She ran a hand through her golden locks and willed herself not to cry. She knew the room was soundproof. That was exactly why Stephan had locked her in here. So no one would ever hear her. So he could keep her here indefinitely. Away from her family. Away from Luke.

She ran her hands along the floor searching through an endless sea of paper and small gargoyle statues to find something. Anything that could be used to pry open the grand door that stood before her. Blocking her way to freedom. She should have never come to Wyndemere. She should have been with her son.

"Lucky."

The word escaped her mouth as a manila folder passed under her fingertips. The numbers 4-16-99 jumping out at her from their typed position on the corner. Those numbers would always mean death to her. For reasons unbeknownst to her, she opened the folder.

"Oh my God......."