Alexis Davis burst into Jasper 'Jax' Jacks' penthouse suite, her cheeks flushed from the chill in the early October air. "I got it!" she announced, reaching into her oversized purse and pulling out a sheaf of manila folders.
"That's great!" Jerry Jacks said snatching them from her hands and spreading them across his brother's glass topped coffee table. Alexis scowled and shot evil looks at the top of his head. She opened her mouth to yell at him when Jax intervened seeing the argument about to start and not wanting to deal with yet another one.
"Class Jerry, get some." He instructed the elder man, smoothly drawing Alexis over to sit on the other side of the table. "Are you sure you weren't seen?" Jax queried his voice full of concern.
"Positive." She assured the younger Jacks brother with a smile, which he returned before they turned their attention to pawing through the stack of files Alexis had managed to pilfer from Helena's yacht in search of something anything to connect her to the attempt on Chloe Morgan's life that had landed the young blonde comatose in the hospital over three weeks ago.
Two hours later they were still sifting through papers and Alexis had developed a severe crick in her neck. Reaching up a hand she sighed trying to ease the tenseness out of her muscles. Looking around she noticed Jerry showing similar signs of fatigue, while Jax' head lolled forward onto his chest V, who had come in fifteen minutes after her, attempting to pummel the stiffness out of his back and shoulders.
"Let's call it a night you guys." Alexis suggested, closing the file she was leafing through and tucking it into her purse.
"Good idea." Jerry agreed closing his own folder and handing it to her.
"I got to get home to Bobbie and Lucas anyways." He cast a quick glance down at his watch and decided to make a quick stop downstairs at the restaurant to pick up some éclairs for Bobbie.
"See you guys later." V called and Jax gave a tired wave his eyelids drooping sleepily.
Alexis dropped the files onto her bed as she walked past it and into her bathroom. She'd put them into the safe in a minute but first she had to have a hot shower to get all the kinks out of her neck. She sighed heavily as she adjusted the temperature of the water coming out of the faucet. It was nights like these she seriously regretted breaking up with Ned when Lois came back to town, but they were so happy now that she couldn't truly regret it. Ned positively radiated joy when she saw him.
Reemerging from the bathroom ten minutes later in pale green pajamas she collapsed onto the bed tiredly.
Five minutes. Five minutes and then I'll get up and put the files away, she promised herself as her eyes closed of their own accord.
Two hours later Alexis felt something brush against her hand and sat up with a start.
What the...?
She looked around the room wildly in disorientation.
Splat!
She looked down at the floor at the sound of the files hitting the carpet and groaned. Leaning over the side of the bed she grabbed up a handful of papers. "Great! Now I'm going to have to put them all back where they came from! Like I can remember!" she grumbled in annoyance. Picking up the rest with a stifled sigh she folded her legs under her and resignedly grabbed her reading glasses from the bedside table.
Alexis' eyes drifted slowly shut and stayed that way for a few seconds before she jerked awake again. However the words began to blend together again after a few minutes and she could feel herself drifting off once more until 'Report on Lucas Lorenzo Spencer Jr. for the week of October 7th - 13th 2001' swam into focus.
"What on earth is Helena doing with a report on Luke's dead son?" She wondered aloud. Then she glanced at the date again. "And why is it dated for last week? Helena's minions are slipping up." She thought with a grin as she began to skim the paper, slowing to read as it became more and more apparent that it wasn't a typo but the actual date.
'Oh my God!' Alexis thought as realization dawned. "Lucky's alive!" she exclaimed, dropping the paper onto the bed.
She sat frozen for a few seconds before reaching for her phone and picking up the receiver, her fingers paused over the numbers.
Who to call first? Who to call first?
Finally she punched in a number and listened to it ring.
"Whaddya want?" a gruff voice grumbled into the phone.
"Luke? Listen, I need you to get over here now! I've got some big news for you."
"What is it?" Luke queried, taking his feet off the table to sit up, the tone of her voice making him instantly alert.
"Just get over here." She told him hanging up before he could reply and began dialing again.
"Hello?" The sleepy male voice from the other end of the phone mumbled.
"Nikolas, it's me."
Nikolas Cassidine sat halfway up in bed rubbing at his eyes, one shock of dark hair hanging across his forehead, looking for all the world like a sleepy little boy.
"What is it Alexis?" He queried tiredly, pushing the covers off and rising to his feet. He ran a hand through his hair and scratched his well-muscled abs before hitching his dark green silk boxer shorts up higher and making his way into the living room to check on the time.
"Nikolas, I have something very important to tell you, but I can't do it over the phone, I need you to come over here."
"Now?" Nikolas covered his face as a yawn overtook him. "Can't you tell me in the morning?"
"No, it's too urgent! Look can you come over to my penthouse, I promise to explain everything when you get here." She pleaded.
"Fine, I'll be there in twenty minutes." He acquiesced before hanging up the phone and going in search of his pants.
Fifteen minutes later, Alexis paced the room like a caged tigress, wondering where Nikolas and Luke were. She'd had time to go change and restack the files that had fall off the bed a second time when she'd gotten off it to go change and they still hadn't shown up. Her nerves were wound so tightly that she almost screamed when there came a knock at her door three minutes later.
Pulling it open, she was relieved to find Luke standing there looking like a disgruntled bear in his rumbled shirt and pants.
"Hey Tash," he greeted entering the apartment without being asked. "So what's with all the cloak and dagger stuff? I thought that was my end of the business." He teased.
Before Alexis could answer however there came another knock on the door. She stepped over and opened it, allowing Nikolas entrance. Luke eyed his estranged wife's son suspiciously and Nikolas returned the favor.
"What did you call me down here for?" Nikolas questioned his aunt purposely facing away from Luke.
Alexis sighed heavily as Luke continued giving Nikolas the evil eye. Reaching for the top folder in the pile that sat neatly atop the table she handed it to Luke, and gestured for Nikolas to get closer so he too could see what it said.
"Cowboy's alive!" Luke exclaimed in astonishment, his mouth dropping open as the file slid from between his nerveless fingers.
Sonny groaned and rolled over in his bed as hands shook him awake.
"What? What is it?" he queried of Johnny who loomed over him looking worried.
"Luke Spencer wants to see you boss. He says it's important."
Sonny sighed and sat up grumbling bout how everything was important to Luke. "Tell him I'll be right there Johnny.
As he was pulling on a shirt Brenda stirred and woke up realizing he wasn't there keeping her warm.
"Honey? Where you going?" she queried sleepily as he buttoned the last button on his shirt.
"Nowhere babe, just out to the living room to talk with Luke. I'll be right back." He promised dropping a kiss on her forehead as he made his way out of the room.
"Mmm, kay. Tell Luke hi." She replied, stretching languidly before curling up under the covers once more.
"What can I do for you Spencer?" Sonny queried, stifling a yawn as he padded barefoot into his living room, the ankles of his light gray pants swishing against the plush carpeting.
"I need you to put some men on my sister and Laura's mother for a few days." Luke said not wasting time with pleasantries.
"Why?" Sonny asked only mildly interested in Luke's latest scheme.
"I'm going to be out of the country for a while. My son's alive."
"What do you mean Lucky's alive?" Elizabeth Webber's sleep dimmed eyes widened in shock as she gaped at the dark haired twenty year old boy who was half in, half out her window, just like his brother used to. The same brother who had died almost two years ago. Or so they thought, and now, here she was, being told to pack a bag and be quiet about it so they could go rescue said brother, the love of her life.
"Exactly that, but we need to get a move on, so get your stuff together, write Audrey a note and let's go! We still have to tell Laura and then get all the way cross country before morning because Helena doesn't know we know yet and we want to keep it that way." Nikolas explained in a rush, the excitement in his being barely restrained as he all but started jumping up and down as Elizabeth flew around the room grabbing clothes and shoving on sneakers.
"I'll dress over at Laura's." she explained as she pulled her coat on over her sweats.
"Great, then let's go!"
"Wait. The note."
"Don't tell Audrey where we're going. Say you needed to get out of Port Charles for a bit to clear your head and I decided to come with you." Nikolas instructed picking up her backpack and sliding out the window. He was halfway down the tree when she finished the note and joined him, climbing quickly and quietly despite the lack of illumination save the almost full moon overhead.
By coincidence both Nikolas and Luke pulled up outside the Spencer house at the same time from opposite directions. After exchanging cool looks with Nikolas, Luke turned to Elizabeth as they walked up the pathway to his former home.
"Hey there little darlin, how you holding up?" he queried gently.
"I'm okay. In shock is more like it actually. I still kinda think this is a dream." She admitted as Nikolas and Luke both pulled out their keys and a mini battle waged over who would open the door before Elizabeth sighed heavily and unlocked it with her own key.
"I'll go get her!" Elizabeth announced peremptorily once they were in the door before heading up the stairs and leaving Luke and Nikolas in an uncomfortable silence. Nikolas shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered over to stare out a window into the dark early morning sky while Luke made his way over to the mantle piece, staring at a picture of himself Lucky, Lulu and Laura, all together before Lesley Lu had gotten sick. The love and happiness that permeated that pictured tugged at heartstrings he thought he had brutally snapped months ago.
But before he could do more than acknowledge the ache, there were footsteps on the stairs behind him. Spinning around he saw his wife, her beautiful blue eyes filled with hopeful tears.
"He really is alive?" She asked tremulously.
Luke nodded slowly in confirmation. "I saw the papers myself."
"Oh Luke!" She cried joyfully, throwing herself into his arms happy tears streaming down her face.
"He's alive and we're gonna get him back darlin, we're gonna get our cowboy back." He promised stroking her long blonde hair tenderly.
Laura Spencer stepped onto the tarmac gingerly, shielding her eyes against the harsh Caribbean sun that glared down at her, it was barely nine thirty in the morning and already temperatures were closing in on the high eighties. They were on the small twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad the larger of the two was the last in the chain of islands, closest to South America, which was where their plane had taken off from, a small airport in Venezuela. They'd barely made the eight forty five a.m. flight but they had and now they were only hours away from rescuing her son. Hours away from holding her baby boy in her arms again. Laura glanced anxiously behind her for her other baby, her Nikolas, whose dark head was bent against the wind blowing from the plane engines, his arm wrapped supportively around Elizabeth Webber's weary frame. They crossed the asphalt and were soon on their way to collecting the car Luke had called ahead to rent.
From the airport they drove to West Moorings a place near the capital of the country, where Luke had a contact who would be lending them his house on one of the smaller islands off the coast of Trinidad which was barely five thousand square kilometers itself. It was on one of those islands that Helena had her son stashed and Laura would be damned if she didn't make the old hag pay for this when she had Lucky safely back home.
It was early afternoon by the time they arrived at the house where as promised, you could see clear across the water to the adjacent island, somewhere on which Lucky was being held captive. It was decided between them, that they would wait till it was dark to go over to Chacachacaree and scout out the location of where Lucky was being held and so now, all they could do was sit and wait for night to fall.
Lucky Spencer stared mournfully out his window, like most houses in Trinidad, it sported 'burglar proofing' iron bars about 3 inches apart with alternating strips horizontal to those joining the bars together. Except his window had them on both the outside and the inside so if he happened to get through the first set he'd still have the second set to deal with. He had been surprised when the guards pushed him into the room to find there was a window. The surprise had been explained when he'd seen, exactly how far away his nearest neighbors were, a good three miles at least, most of it covered by water, no way of sending anybody a message there, even SOS wouldn't have been picked up since only day trippers and pleasure cruisers seemed to populate the nearby island.
It wasn't like he had anything to signal with anyways! He thought with some annoyance as he turned to face his cell as he deemed it no matter what Helena insisted. It was a big room with hardwood floors and a king sized bed, gauzy white drapes and heavier velvet ones decorated the window so as to hide the bars, a desk sat in one corner complete with computer which was hooked up in no way whatsoever to any sort of modem. Opposite that wall led to a bathroom tub and shower, sink and toilet, all there for him but no mirrors of any kind or even razors. He was allowed to shave every morning with razor and mirror brought to him by one servant or another and he was never left alone in the room with either. Old bat was probably afraid he'd slit his wrists given anything sharp he'd thought when he first noticed this. He snorted to himself. Like hell! He would never give her the satisfaction. He'd slash hers first!
His eyes trailed up the walls, over the posters Helena had so thoughtfully hung for him, to the ventilation blocks. In addition to being old, the house also contained a primitive ventilation system, vertically placed wooden bars sat every inch or so with an inch of space in between them allowed air to circulate through the rooms in the house. It was through those vents that he'd discovered the occupant of the room next to his, a dark haired girl currently a few weeks short of twenty one. It was this girl who had come up with their plan for today. When he'd first met her he couldn't believe who she was, or her story, but eventually she'd convinced him and soon after that they'd become close friends. He couldn't have made it trough the last two years without her and he'd promised her, they'd both be the hell out of here for her birthday and he was determined today's enterprises were going to get them halfway there. He and Anastasia Juliette Nadia Cassidine, who preferred to be called Jewls, his half sister, Nikolas' twin, would be out of this hell hole by the end of the week.
More likely tonight, if everything went as planned. It was a Friday, the guards were always lazy on Fridays, talking about all the 'fetes', Trinidadian slang for parties, they were missing out on. They'd shoot him dirty looks when they came into the room to deliver his dinner, usually at the same time as Jewls', during this ten minute interval the security systems on their doors were disabled to allow the passage of the guards and as it turned out once one part of the system was turned off the entire thing turned off. Helena had been livid when she'd discovered this, but after the last storm that had hit the island and fried the old system the new one had been installed without her knowledge. Plans were underway to have a better one installed next week so their margin for error was very small. It was tonight or never.
"That's it? End of story" Elizabeth questioned incredulously.
"Well, we did try to sneak onto the grounds after that but the place was in such an uproar guards and lights everywhere, barreling down the road after the car that almost ran us over that we just headed back over here before they could spot us." Nikolas explained.
"So what now?" Laura asked, her eyes full of tears once again as she thought of how close she'd come to losing Nikolas that night.
"Now, we wait." Luke replied entering the room with the first aid kit, which he relinquished to his wife's hands. Laura pulled out a few butterfly band-aids and used them to gently close the cut on Nikolas' forehead after cleaning it with rubbing alcohol biting her lip in consternation, but it was Elizabeth who spoke.
"That can't be it! I cannot sit still here knowing that he's so near and could be in danger. I won't!" She announced and stormed out the room.
Laura rose to go after her but Nikolas shook his head "I'll handle it." He promised his mother, following the distraught girl outside.
Lucky Spencer ran through a litany of curses in his head at his own stupidity. He'd been here for HOW long? How could he not have the guards' schedule down? Three minutes and they would have been home free. He'd almost made it to the car when he was tackled. Thank God Jewls had, had the common sense to get the hell out of there while the getting was good. She'd hesitated in the initial few moments of his recapture but their promise to get out and get help for the other had won out over her unwillingness to leave him there. And hey who knew an old Nissan could clock that much speed? He grinned at the mental image of the guards as they'd hastily flung themselves out of Jewls' path. Sobering, Lucky sighed heavily and settled back in his chair. There was nothing to do now but wait and hope that his parents believed Jewls when she found them and Helena didn't move him before he had a chance to be rescued.
"Elizabeth?" Nikolas called quietly as he stepped out onto the porch. He spotted her sitting on the railing, staring across the sea at the lights on Chacachacaree.
"We'll get him out." He promised, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. She turned around to look at him with tear filled eyes. "I know, and I know it's too dangerous to go over there again tonight because getting captured ourselves won't help rescue Lucky, but I just feel so helpless Nikolas!" She exclaimed, getting off the banister to pace around the porch as she ranted. "I've never felt so powerless to stop what was going on around me since I was raped and I hate it! I just hate it! I can't stand the thought of what the evil ghoul has been doing to him over the past year, how much she must have put him through. I'm worried he's not going to be the same after all he's been through, God knows I'm not the same. What if I can't reach him? What if I can't help him if we do get him back? What if she's got him so messed up he doesn't even know who we are?" Her voice trailed off as she took a minute to compose herself, they lapsed into silence for a few moments as she shook her head to discard the tears that had fallen.
"He'll be fine Elizabeth." Nikolas soothed once she was calm again. "I swear to you, when we get him back, he'll be fine because he'll be back with us, with people who love and care for him." The dark haired boy told her softly but with conviction, catching a stray tear on his index finger as it coursed down her cheek.
Elizabeth lifted her eyes to meet his once again and gave him a watery smile, nodding her affirmation.
"You're right. I'm sorry for getting so worked up,"
"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay, you're allowed to get worried and freak out every time my grandmother kidnaps your boyfriend." Nikolas said with a teasing smile, which Elizabeth returned then surprised him with a hug
"Thank you for helping him and me." She whispered in his ear when she went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.
Nikolas shrugged when she stepped back. "We're family, it's expected." He said simply, a little smile playing across his lips at the words. It was nice to finally have family, he thought. 'of course I never expected rescuing my younger brother to be as literal as this.' He grinned at that thought as he ushered Elizabeth back inside, the smile quickly being replaced by worry as he remembered just who he was rescuing Lucky from.
The pair bid each other goodnight and headed off to separate rooms. Elizabeth caught Nikolas' eye before he turned down the corridor and nodded at him. "We'll find him Nikolas. We have to."