~*~Chapter 73~*~

Helena’s mouth drops open as she stares at the gun in his hand. “Sergei, what are you doing?”

“Something I should have done a long time ago.” He turns his head to look at Liz. “Elisha, can you come take Mikkos?”

Liz wipes her eyes and nods, making her way to him slowly, glancing at Lucky along the way. He starts to step forward to stop her, nervous about her going near this guy, especially when he has a gun in his hand, but Luke holds him back. She reaches out for the baby and takes him from Sergei, looking up at him with concern. “Thank you, but you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do. She’s controlled me for too long, and it’s time for it to stop. Now, please go.”

Liz walks back to Laura, cradling Mikkos in her arms. Laura looks down at him and gasps, instantly recognizing the resemblance to Lucky. Liz smiles knowingly and nods, then turns her attention back to Sergei and Helena.

“Okay, Sergei, she has the baby now. Why don’t you put down the gun,” Helena says calmly. “You don’t want to do this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Helena. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I should have done it when you first brought her here, and forced her to marry me. Or, I should have done it when you ordered me to force myself on her. Or how about when you told me to convince her that her husband was dead? Do you think I wanted to do those things? Do you think I enjoyed watching her suffer? I was so afraid you would hurt her, or our son, that I went along with whatever you asked. But now I know why you suddenly decided that you wanted her to have another child. You knew he wasn’t mine, didn’t you?”

Liz gasps and looks at up them. “How did you konw?” she asks softly

Sergei smiles slightly. “It wasn’t too hard to figure out once I saw him,” he says, motioning to Lucky. “Mikkos is his spitting image.”

Nodding, Liz looks at Lucky, who is staring at her in shock. “I know,” she says quietly, glancing down at Mikkos.

“Okay, so we all agree that the baby isn’t yours,” Helena says, annoyed. “What are you going to do if she’s pregnant again?”

Sergei smiles and adjusts his grip on the gun. “It won’t happen, so there’s no reason to worry. “

“How can you be so sure?”

“I haven’t been sleeping with her. I couldn’t hurt her again like that.”

Helena snorts in disgust. “Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for the girl!”

“What if I have? Does it really matter? We all know that her heart belongs to her husband...her real husband. I thought for a while that in time she might learn to love me, but now I see how foolish that was. She deserves to be with him, to raise their child together. If I have to shoot you in order for that to happen, I will. It’s the least I can do after the way their lives have been turned upside down.”

“How noble,” she says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“It’s not noble, it’s the right thing to do. In fact, you deserve this. No one cares about you, Helena. Your family never liked you and your only living son is in prison. After everything you’ve done to them,” he motions to the Spencers, “I doubt they’d miss you at all. And personally, I can’t wait until the day you take your last breath.” Growing angrier, he steps closer to her, holding the gun with both hands, still aiming for her forehead. Off to the side, Luke pulls out his own gun and aims at her, just in case she tries to do something stupid.

“You’ve ruined my life, do you know that? You kept me from my real family, kept me a secret. I never knew my parents or my brothers, I didn’t even know the other Cassidines, only you. When you found out that Nikolas and I were Luke Spencer’s sons, I had to be grateful to you for not killing me. If I had known then what you had planned for me, I would have rather died. I despise the person you turned me into. I was weak, and I would do anything you asked in order to be spared from your threats. But now I finally know what it’s like to put someone else’s life before your own. Elisha and Mikkos deserve to live the life they would have had if you had just died on that boat like you were supposed to!”

“How did you get off that boat in time, anyway?” Luke interrupts.

Helena smirks at him. “When I saw that the diamond you gave Faison was a fake, I had a feeling something was up and went back onto the island, through the secret compartment I had used to escape in the first place. Once I was off, the yaht pulled away and, well, you know the rest. I laid low until the police had gone, and returned to this island.”

“Why take her?” Lucky asks, glancing over at Elizabeth. “Why not just take me again?”

“That would be too obvious. No one would believe it. It was a perfect plan: recreate what happened to Laura, only this time the outcome would be different. You all believed I was dead, so there was no reason for you to suspect me in her disappearance.”

“Did you think I’d actually give up? Did you really think I’d stop looking for her, that I’d just assume she was dead and move on?” Lucky asks, tears springing to his eyes.

When Helena doesn’t answer, Sergei sighs and cocks the gun. “Say whatever you have to now, before I finally finish this.” He waits a moment, and when Helena says nothing, he begins to pull the trigger.

“No!” Liz screams, startling everyone.

~*~Chapter 74~*~

“What?” Luke and Sergei ask loudly, shocked by her outburst. Sergei relaxes his finger before the gun goes off and shakes his head in confusion.

Liz turns to Laura and hands her the baby before walking up to Sergei. “Killing her isn’t going to solve anything. I learned a long time ago that shooting someone who has hurt you isn’t the solution, it only causes more problems.” She looks over a Lucky, remembering the day they had caught Tom Baker and discovered he was her rapist.

“Don’t tell me you’ve actually shot someone?” Sergei asks, stunned.

She shakes her head. “No, but I almost did. I had the gun aimed at him and everything. But then I realized that shooting him would only make him suffer for a short time, and he deserved so much more for what he had done. So instead, I called the police and had him arrested.”

“What did he do to you?” he asks quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Liz swallows and looks up to meet his eyes. “He raped me.”

Sergei gapes at her for a moment in shock, then turns to Helena, who is smiling proudly. “You knew about this, didn’t you? You knew she was raped.”

“Of course I did. I make it a point to know everything about my enemies, as well as those close to them.”

Sergei turns back to Liz, visibly shaken. “If I had known....if she had told me, I would have never....God, no wonder you always seemed so repulsed by me!”

“No, I wasn’t...I mean, it was just weird, that’s all. I won’t say it’s okay, because it’s not, but it’s not your fault, not really. You didn’t know,” she says. Lucky watches the exchange in confusion, trying to figure out why she’s reassuring him.

“It’s nice that you’re trying to make me feel better, but it won’t work. I don’t care what happens to me, I don’t care if I go to jail for this, I just need to make her pay.” He levels the gun at Helena’s head once more, and takes a deep breath.

“Why do you have to do this?” Liz says frantically. “Killing her isn’t the answer, it’s her way, not yours. Do you want to become her?”

Sergei shakes his head. “No, but this is different. She deserves to die after everything she’s done. I have no reason to care what happens to me anyway.”

“Don’t say that! You finally have a chance to know your real family, do you want to throw that away? Luke and Laura deserve the chance to get to know their son. What about Nikolas and Lucky? You’re their brother, they should have the chance to know you, too.”

“Oh, yeah, they’re really going to want to know me after what I’ve done to you! I’m no better than Stavros was to Laura!”

“That’s not true,” Laura says softly, stepping forward. “Stavros was a tyrant, he didn’t care about anything, and he certainly didn’t care about me! You obviously regret what you’ve done, and that makes all the difference.”

Sergei smiles as tears form in his eyes. How can this woman be so kind to him, after everything he’s done?

“Look, are you going to shoot me, or are you just going to bore me to death?” Helena asks suddenly, startling everyone.

“Put down the gun, boy,” Luke says firmly, stepping forward with his own. “We’re taking her with us.”

“Dad, come on, you’re kidding right?” Lucky asks frantically.

“No, Liz had a point before. Killing her won’t solve anything.” He grabs some rope that he has left over from his earlier dealings with Helena’s guards and walks up behind her to tie her wrists.

“This coming from the man who blew up my yacht?” she asks wryly, flinching as he tightens the knots.

“Yeah, well, I was mad back then. I’m thinking more clearly this time. Now come on, let’s go.” He starts to lead her off to where their boat is docked, then stops and looks back at Laura. “Hey, babe, you wanna give me a hand with her?”

“Sure,” she says, quickly handing Mikkos back to Liz, then hurrying over to him. The other three watch them go, then Lucky slowly makes his way over to her.

“So, he’s....he’s mine?” he asks quietly.

Liz nods, smiling. “I knew it the second I saw him. I was just so afraid of what would happen if Helena knew. I should have known she’d have tests done, though.”

“May I...” he asks tentatively, holding out his hands. Liz smiles at his sudden uneasiness and nods, holding out the baby for him to take. As Mikkos is transferred from her arms to his, their hands touch, sending a familiar chill down her spine. She steps back once he has him securely in his arms, letting him have a moment with his son.

“I’m sorry you thought he was yours all this time,” she says quietly to Sergei. “I would have told you, but I wasn’t sure if you’d tell Helena or not.”

Sergei merely nods, his eyes focused on Lucky and Mikkos, trying to be happy for them, and not think about all he was losing.

Lucky looks down at his child, admiring his perfect features, his bright blue eyes. He knows in that instant that he would do anything to protect him. He reaches down to touch the baby’s nose, and chuckles when his tiny hand immediately latches onto his finger.

They continue to watch the baby in silence, none of them sure what to say to the other. Lucky’s still trying to deal with his anger at Elizabeth for sleeping with Sergei, but at the same time, he just wants to throw his arms around her and never let go.

“Okay, she’s all secured,” Luke says, walking up to the trio with Laura. “Let’s head out of here.”

Sergei steps back, assuming that he’ll be staying on the island. Luke shakes his head and waves him forward. “You too, son.”

“You want me to go back with you?” he asks incredulously.

“You’re our son, and family comes first. You more than proved yourself today by standing up to Helena. Now come on, and let’s get off this island.”

Sergei smiles, touched by the invitation, and begins to follow Luke and Laura down the beach. Lucky starts walking as well, but turns to see that Liz hasn’t moved. “Elizabeth? Are you coming?”

She looks up at him, snapping out of her reverie, and frowns. “I can’t go with you.”

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