What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 37-38

~*~Chapter 37~*~

Luke unlocks the door to his former home. He's been on pins and needles all morning, and thought that maybe if he came by and saw his daughter (and his wife), it might calm him down.

"Honey, I'm home!" he shouts jokingly as he closes the door behind him. A few seconds later, she pokes her head out of a room upstairs. "I'm up here!"

He grins and bounds up to the stairs to see what she's doing. He finds her in Lucky's old room, cleaning. Even in sweats, with dust in her hair, she's still beautiful.

"What brings you here?" she asks, as though it was just any normal day. They're both on edge, and trying to cover it up by joking.

He smiles. "Just thought I'd stop by and see my princess before..."

She looks down. "Yeah, that's what I figured. I've been going crazy all morning trying to find things to do. As long as I'm busy, I seem to be able to forget what today is. So, how does it look?" she asks, gesturing to the room. She had been up here all morning, cleaning it and trying to put it back into some semblance of order. After the fire, first she had trashed it, and then Luke threw all of his things out the window. She wanted it to look as much like it used to as possible. She had made the bed, replaced the broken mirror, straightened the pictures on the walls, and had managed to patch up most of the scratches and holes that had been left on the walls from her rampage last year. He was suddenly very ashamed of himself for losing it and throwing away all of Lucky's belongings. 'I'll buy him a new computer as soon as he's safe again,' he vows.

"It looks wonderful, darlin'. But don't expect too much right away. Remember, he wasn't too happy with us before, and he may still be mad. There's a chance he still won't want to live here."

She nods, "I know, but I needed to do something. At least this way, if he does want to come home, his room will be ready. I just wish his stuff was still here...." she stops, seeing the pain flash in Luke's eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. Hey," she says, trying to cheer him up. "I trashed the room first, remember?"

They both smile, and he crosses the room to give her a hug. "You're the best, you know that?" They stay like this for a moment before he breaks away. "So, where's my little girl?"

"She's at Amy's. I didn't want her to pick up on my nervousness today, so I took her over there first thing this morning. I'm sorry, Luke. I didn't know you'd be coming over."

He shakes his head. "That's okay, baby. I didn't know either. I just sort of found myself on the doorstep. I guess I'm trying to keep occupied too. I had a few loose ends to tie up earlier, but I finished early. I'm afraid that if I let myself stop and think about it, I'll lose my nerve."

"Don't feel that way! You'll be fine. I have so much faith in you, Luke. If anyone can save our son from those monsters, it's you. Nobody knows Helena better than you, and Felicia's been filling you in on Faison, right?" He nods "Then stop doubting yourself. If you can save the world from being frozen, that what's little rescue mission, huh?" She's trying to lighten the situation, even though they both know that this 'little rescue mission' is many times more important to them than anything else they've done.

"You're right. I need to stay focused, and believe that I can do this. If I doubt myself, then I'll be letting them win. And you know me, I refuse to let anyone beat me!" They hug again. "Thanks for the pep talk. I should really get going. You and Felicia are meeting us on the docks at 3, right?"

"Right. Three o'clock, on the dot." Her eyes start to tear up. "Oh, Luke, is this really happening? Are we really getting our baby back today?"

"If I have to move hell and high water to do it, I will get him back for you. He's been gone long enough. It's time for him to come home, where he belongs."

~*~Chapter 38~*~

"Benny, what's the situation?" Sonny asks as Benny enters the penthouse. He had been going over Luke's plan with Jason, while Benny was scoping out Spoon Island.

"Well, it looks like there's about 3 guards around the island. Helena's yacht is anchored at the back, hidden away from view. There seems to be a secret door in the back, but it looks like it'll be easy to open."

They both nod. "The guards will be easy. Our men can take care of them. If Helena's yacht is there, then she's probably in with Lucky. The only unknown is what's in there. It could just be her, or they could have guards and traps all over the place." Jason says.

Sonny shakes his head. "Keep in mind that they don't think anyone's onto them. If no one's looking for Lucky, then who do they need to guard him from? No, I think once we're in, the most we'll have to deal with is her and Faison. We have the element of surprise on our side, too. If Helena is in there with him, it may be good for us." He waves a hand at their surprised faces and continues. "It may not seem that way to most people, but Helena has a soft spot for Luke. They may hate each other, but they are also each other's favorite opponents. She wouldn't kill him unless she absolutely had too, giving him the upper hand. Normally, I'd say he felt the same way, but now that this involves his son, he's going to be out for blood. She doesn't stand a chance. He should be able to neutralize her right away. Faison could pose a problem, though. I just hope Luke is prepared for it."

Johnny opens the door and another of their men comes in, holding a velvet pouch. "I believe this is what you had requested," he states, handing it over to his boss.

Sonny opens the pouch and turns it upside-down. A perfect replica of the Ice Princess slides out. He hold it up to the light. "Perfect. It's a close enough copy that they'll be fooled. Good work, Antonio." The man nods, and takes his leave.

~*~

"Hi Bobbie." Alexis greets, approaching the nurse's station. They were both at GH under the pretense of working, so that they could keep an eye on Stefan. Actually, Bobbie was working: she had switched shifts with another nurse so that it wouldn't seem strange that she was there. If she got called away for anything, Alexis would still be there to watch out for him.

"Hey Alexis. So, how do you plan on doing this? I mean, neither of us are exactly best buds with him, so he'll get suspicious if we're hanging around him all day."

"I thought about that. Luckily, I have a couple of cases that I needed to discuss with him anyway, and I've been saving them for today, so that will buy us some time. I also pulled some strings to get a board meeting scheduled for 3:00, so that will help, too."

Bobbie smiles. "Great! It looks like our end of the deal is going to be a snap. Let's just hope that Luke's is, too."

~*~

"Hi, Felicia," Laura greets, opening the door. They exchange a quick hug. "Ready to go?" she asks nervously.

"You bet! The girls are with Betty and Mac's at work. Oh, here's your walkie-talkie. Luke already has the other two. I think he's going to give them to Sonny and Jason so we can keep in contact."

Laura takes the object from her. "Thanks. I really hope everything goes okay. I'm so worried."

Felicia shakes her head. "Don't be. Luke has outsmarted Helena for too many years to lose now. Plus, this time something more important to him than life itself is at stake."

"I know, and that's what worries me." Felicia raises an eyebrow in confusion. "We're finally starting to repair the rift between us. I want Lucky back so desperately, and I know Luke feels the same way. I know he wouldn't give a second thought to giving his own life for his son's escape. I just don't know if I can lose him now."

Felicia looks at her friend tenderly. "You won't. He'll be careful. I know how important you are to him, and if he thinks he's starting to get you back, then he'll fight like crazy to stay around. So stop worrying and let's get out of here. We can't be late!"

~*~

Luke is pacing nervously, waiting for Sonny and Jason. The smell of coffee is overwhelming him almost to the point of nausea. "Come on, guys, where are you?"

"Right here," Sonny says, waking into the room and nearly scaring Luke to death.

"Don't do that, man! You'll give me a heart attack!" Luke exclaims before slapping his friend on the back.

Jason comes up behind Sonny, talking to one of their men on the phone.

"Here you go, buddy," Sonny says, holding out the phony Ice Princess. Luke takes it and slides it out of the pouch.

"Very impressive. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if I didn't know any better. This should buy me some time." He pockets the stone. "What other goodies do you have for me?"

Sonny laughs. "You're like a kid at Christmas. Here, take this, just in case." He hands Luke a gun. "Shoot someone with that, and they'll be out for hours."

Luke smiles, taking the gun. "It looks so real..." he says, admiring it. He had told Sonny that he refused to bring a gun in with him, because he doesn't trust them. They can end up being turned on the wrong person. Plus, he had more sinister things in store for Helena and Faison. They were too evil to just shoot with a regular gun. The one Sonny had given him was loaded with tranquilizers. If he absolutely had to shoot someone, they would be left unconscious long enough to get Lucky out, then he could turn them over to the police. He's sure Mac would love a chance to book Faison for kidnapping.

"Okay then. Let's rock and roll!" He exclaims, heading out of the warehouse, Sonny and Jason close behind.