What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 27-28

~*~Chapter 27~*~

Alexis Ashton steps off of the elevator and walks to the nurse's station. "Hello, Bobbie. How are you today?"

Bobbie smiles. "Pretty good. How about you? You know, I think this is the first time since your wedding that I've seen you without Ned nearby. Honeymoon's finally over?" she asks jokingly.

Alexis laughs. "Not quite yet, but V roped him into rehearsing, so I'm on my own for the afternoon. I thought I'd catch up on some business here. Do you know if Stefan is in his office? I need to speak with him." She has been taking over some of the hospital's legal business for Lee Baldwin, who was looking to retire soon, and wanted to ease out of his position gradually. She enjoys the steady work, and most of it is pretty mundane. She has sworn off high-profile cases for a while after Jason and Carly's last custody battle. She still can't believe that Carly had been pulling one over on everyone all that time. No wonder Jason had stood by her and refused to trash her at the first trial. She had to admit, the woman has guts.

"Earth to Alexis. Hello?" Bobbie says, trying to get her attention.

"I'm sorry Bobbie, what were you saying?" She asks, returning from her thoughts.

Bobbie laughs. "I said that Stefan should be in his office all afternoon. Where were you just now?"

"Believe it or not, I was thinking about your daughter."

Bobbie looks confused. "Carly? Why were you thinking about her?"

"I was just thinking about how that last custody battle of hers drove me to the calmer job of legal counsel here at GH." She answers with a laugh.

Bobbie nods, understanding what she means. Carly put Alexis through a lot, first as the opposing party and then as her own client. Her daughter could definitely be a handful, but deep down she admired her for sticking to her guns and finally getting Michael back where he belongs: with Jason. She may not approve of Carly's methods, but she knows her heart was in the right place.

The two women say their good-byes and Alexis heads for Stefan's office. She isn't looking forward to this at all. Stefan still hasn't forgiven her for everything she's done, especially for announcing the fact that Nikolas was his son, right in front of Helena. On top of that, she went against him for control of the family estate. She isn't even sure why she's bothering to talk to him today, but some part of her feels he should be warned. After all, he's still her brother, and she figures that if Luke is worried about Helena, they should be worried also.

She gets to his office and notices that his door is cracked open slightly. She takes a deep breath and raises her arm to knock, when she hears him talking. She stops, not wanting to interrupt him if he's in a meeting, listening for a moment to determine if he will be long.

"Don't worry Mother. It's under control."

Mother? Was Helena here? He's silent for a minute before speaking again, so he must be on the phone. As much as she hates eavesdropping, she has a feeling this conversation is something she should hear.

"No, I don't know why Alexis would have gone to see Luke. Are you worried that they're going to try and throw you off of a parapet again?" he asks, sounding totally serious, even though he's making a joke. Alexis can't help smiling at that. Since when does Stefan make jokes?

"Fine, I'll see what I can find out, but trust me. She has nothing on you, and she stopped going for the family fortune, so why worry? I'm sure whatever she was there for had nothing to do with the family."

She was getting worried. Why would Helena be watching her? Or maybe she was watching Luke instead. So why report to Stefan about her comings and goings? And even worse, since when did Stefan work with her on something? Something was definitely going on...

"Yes, I agree that it would be unwise to mention Lucky.....no, Laura is barely speaking to me any longer, so you have no need to concern yourself with me....Yes, fine. Good-bye Mother."

She hears him hang up and rushes to get away from the door in case he comes out. Her mind is racing. Why were they talking about Lucky? Was that why Luke needed information from her? She's rolling these questions around in her head as she heads back tot he nurse's station. Luckily, Bobbie is still there.

"Hey Alexis. Done with Stefan already?" she asks

"Uh, no. Actually, I didn't speak to him. Could you do me a favor? Don't tell him I stopped by." She pleaded, looking very shaken.

"Of course. Is everything okay?"

"Not really. Can I ask you a question?" Bobbie nods. "Do you know if Luke is up to something right now? Something to do with Lucky?"

Bobbie's eyes widen, pretty sure Luke didn't want her to say anything about Nikolas, and wondering what any of that had to do with Lucky. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he called me yesterday for some information about Helena, saying he thought she was up to something. Since she's always plotting something, I didn't think anything of it, and I agreed to give him the medical files on Nikolas that Jax and I got from Greece. Anyway, I came here to warn Stefan about it, in case Helena was planning something against him or Nikolas, but I overheard him on the phone with her, and he mentioned Lucky."

Bobbie looks shocked. She had been wondering all day why Luke had Lucky's medical records on his desk. She had been so shocked by the discovery about Nikolas, that she had forgotten to ask him. Now she can't help wondering if this is all connected somehow. "Well, I don't really know what he's up to, but I do remember seeing Lucky's medical records on his desk. Maybe you should ask him. I know he'd want to know about Stefan's conversation. In fact, I just got off duty, so I'll come with you. I want to hear his explanation, especially if it involves my nephew!" She makes a quick phone call to make sure her relief is there, and they both get on the elevator.

'Luke has some explaining to do!' They both think as the doors close.

~*~Chapter 28~*~

Luke and Laura are in his office, trying to figure out the best way to rescue their son. It feels like old times, working together on something like this. They find themselves gazing at each other whenever the other isn't looking, both wondering if there's still a chance for them. They haven't discussed their own relationship yet. After so many years of marriage, they are suddenly nervous around each other, wondering what the other is thinking, wondering if they still care.

Felicia pokes her head around the open door, knocking to announce her presence. She sees that Laura is there and wonders if she should come back later. The last she spoke to Luke, he was against Laura knowing yet. "I'm sorry, should I come back?"

Luke waves her in. "Nonsense, partner. Come on in. And don't worry, Laura knows." He says with a wink toward his wife. She smiles, happy to be included in their rescue plans.

Felicia is relieved. She always felt that Laura had a right to know about all of this, and is glad that Luke came to his senses and told her. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that Mac is keeping his eye out for Faison. If he finds anything, I'll let you know right away."

Laura is confused. "You told Mac about Lucky? I thought you wanted to do this 'your way'?" she asks her husband.

He laughs. She knows him too well. "No, he doesn't know about that. Felicia just wanted to warn him that the creep was in town, since the Scorpios were always his favorite target." She nods, understanding.

Felicia elaborates. "I told him that he was going under the name of Herr Krieg this time, that he was pressuring Luke into helping him fence diamonds, and that I overheard a phone conversation and recognized his voice." Laura raises an eyebrow at him, still curious about this diamond thing. Felicia turns to Luke, "Don't worry, I made it clear that you had no intention of doing any work for him, so Mac shouldn't be on your back about the diamond part. He's too worried now anyway. Have you found out anything more?"

Luke and Laura share a glance. They had agreed that the truth about Nikolas's paternity should be kept between them and Bobbie until this whole thing was over. "Well, one of Sonny's men saw Helena going into Wyndemere through some secret back door, but that's about it. I gave him the picture so he could distribute it to his guards. Other than that, I guess the plan is to wait and see what happens."

Laura jumped up in her chair. "I just remembered something. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but Lesley Lu said something the other day about Lucky coming home. I just passed it off as her wishing he would come back, but now that I know he's still alive, it's just too weird. Do you think she can sense something that we can't?"

Luke chuckles. "Sounds like Lucy's turf to me. Who knows, maybe the kid's psychic. I remember how you used to be able to feel where he was, so maybe you passed it along to her."

There's another knock on the door. "It's like Grand Central Station around here these days. Come In!" Luke yells.

Bobbie comes in, followed by Alexis.

"Well, well, well. The gang's all here," he exclaims, holding his arms out. "What can I do ya for?"

"This isn't a social call, Luke. Alexis has something to share with you, and when she's done I think you owe us both an explanation. I know you're up to something, and that it has to do with Lucky," she says matter-of-factly.

Luke is taken aback for a moment by his sister's bluntness. He knew he wouldn't be able to avoid telling her sooner or later, but he had hoped to keep the number of people who knew the truth down to a minimum. If too many people were walking around Port Charles with the knowledge that Lucky wasn't dead, it could be disastrous. He figures Alexis can keep her mouth shut, but swears to himself that no one else needs to know. He looks at Alexis, "Fine, I'll spill, but first I want to hear what Natasha has to tell me."

She explains how she went to warn Stefan about Helena and describes the phone call she overheard. Everyone's eyes widen when they hear the part about Lucky. Laura is about to burst with rage at the thought of Stefan being involved in this. All that time he claimed to be wanting to help her through her grief, putting her up at his country house and everything. Could he have known all along? Even worse, could he actually be behind the whole thing?

"Okay, now are you going to explain why the three of you look like deer caught in headlights?" Bobbie asks.

Luke regains his composure and motions to an empty chair. "Well, to quote you, Barbara, you may want to sit down for this. You too, Natasha." He looks at Laura for a moment, trying to tell her with his eyes that they weren't going to discuss Nikolas yet. She nods, letting him know she understands. They both smile, pleased that they haven't lost their connection.

Bobbie, Alexis, and Felicia all see this exchange and look at each other quizzically. "What was that all about?" Felicia asks.

Luke chuckles. "Nothing, darlin'. Now where do I start?" He thinks for a moment and explains to Bobbie and Alexis how Felicia tipped him off to Herr Krieg's real identity, how Lucky's medical records were switched, meaning he is still alive, and how Helena is probably in on it. "And now it looks like Count Stiff has a hand in this too. Probably some sick attempt to win my wife." He adds, causing Laura to flinch at the realization of how close that came to happening.

Alexis is shocked, and Bobbie has tears running down her face. "Are you serious?" she asks. "He's still alive? Oh my God, Elizabeth! Does she know?"

"No!" Luke, Laura, and Felicia all say simultaneously. "She's hurting enough right now," he continues. "If we tell her that he's alive, and then we fail to rescue him, she'll just lose him all over again. I don't want to be responsible for her going through any more pain, which is why I hadn't wanted to tell my wife either, but what can I say, she beat it out of me." He laughs and looks at Laura, who's smiling. They hope no one will want a further explanation about why he told her. Obviously, Bobbie has figured out why, but they'd prefer to keep Felicia and Alexis in the dark on that particular issue for now.

"Alright, so we're all up to speed. What do we do now?" Felicia asks excitedly, looking forward to the adventure.

Alexis stands up. "I thank you for filling me in, but I should get going. Oh-I think Helena is keeping an eye on you. She already knows I brought you that file. Do you have an empty one I can fill with blank paper or soemthing and take with me? That way it'll look like I just came back for it. If she thinks I'm working with you again, she might get nervous, and we all know how dangerous a nervous Helena can be."

Luke nods and retrieves an old file, sticking some old newspaper in it. He hands it to her, and she leaves, making him promise to keep her updated. She feels guilty that her family could be behind such a horrible thing, and wants to help any way she can. The three other women turn back and look at Luke expectantly.

He laughs at their expressions. "Why are you three looking at me like I'm the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz?"