What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 39-40

~*~Chapter 39~*~

Liz sighs. Kelly’s has been really slow today: the only people there besides her and the cook are a couple over in the corner who are so involved in each other they probably don’t even realize that their food has gone cold.

The phone rings. “Kelly’s”

“Hey. Are you going to be there for a while?” Nikolas asks from the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, I’m working all afternoon. Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, I just wanted to show you something. Mind if I stop by in a few minutes?”

“Be my guest! I could use some company. It’s like a ghost town in here. I think I just saw a tumbleweed...” she jokes.

“What’s a tumbleweed?” he asks, causing her to laugh.

“Oh, Nikolas, you really need to get out more! I’ll see you soon.” She hangs up, still chuckling, and looks at her watch.

“Time for a break.” She says, walking over to the jukebox. She’s in pretty good mood today, and wants to listen to that new Miguel Morez song that V has been babbling about for weeks. She looks over at the couple again, thinking that they probably wouldn’t even notice if she put on some music. They’re in their own little world right now.

She drops her money in and hits the button labeled “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” then stands back, waiting for it to start, but the music that starts playing isn’t Miguel. As she realizes what it is, she feels her legs go weak and has to lean against the wall for support. As the song progresses, she flashes back to memories of Lucky.

Sorry I never told you
All I wanted to say
Now it's too late to hold you
'Cause you've flown away
So far away

Never had I imagined
Living without your smile
Feeling and knowing you hear me
It keeps me alive
Alive

She faintly hears the door’s bell jingle as she starts to slide to the ground. She’s sobbing uncontrollably, and can no longer stand, even though she’s leaning against the wall. As she’s about to hit the floor, she feels someone’s arms go around her and lift her back up. She looks up into Nikolas’s face, and starts sobbing harder.

“Shh. It’s okay, Liz. What happened?”

It takes her a few minutes to regain her composure. When she is able to speak again, she wipes her eyes, and stands up. “I was taking my break, and I decided to put on that new song V keeps talking about, you know, the one by Miguel Morez?” He nods, urging her to continue. “Well, when I hit the button for it, ‘One Sweet Day’ played instead. Have you ever heard that song?”

Nikolas nods again, realizing now why she was so upset. That song was one of the saddest he has ever heard, and it fit her situation all too well. He puts his arm around her shoulder and leads her away from the corner. “Come on, let’s go sit down.” They go to a table in the middle of the restaurant and just sit quietly while Liz dabs at her face, trying to slow her tears.

[song credits: “One Sweet Day” By: Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men (Lyrics: M. Carey - M. McCary - N. Morris - W. Morris - S. Stockman / Music: M. Carey, W. Afanasieff) - Sony/ATV Songs LLC/Rye Songs (BMI)/Sony/ATV Tunes LLC/Wallyworld Music (ASCAP)/Black Panther Publishing Co./Vanderpool Publishing/Aynaw Publishing/Shawn Patrick Publishing/Ensign Music Corporation (BMI)]

~*~Chapter 40~*~

“Well, this is it, angel. The next time you see me, I’ll have our cowboy with me.” Luke says, hugging his wife. He knows that she’s worried about this mission, and is trying to comfort her.

She nods, smiling bravely at him. “Then I hope I see you again real soon!” They hug again before he joins up with Sonny and Jason and get in the small boat that Luke keeps nearby .

“Where did this boat come from?” Jason asks.

“I keep it here in case I ever need to get to Spook Island. I refuse to ever take the ‘launch’, and most of the time I come here, I’m trying not to be noticed anyway. This usually works.” He answers, starting up the quiet engine.

The other men had already gone ahead to take care of the guards. When they report back that all is clear, Luke, Sonny, and Jason climb out onto the island.

Luke takes a deep breath, looking around him. Helena’s yacht is docked at the back of the island, hidden away from the shore where Laura and Felicia were waiting. ‘How sneaky, hiding her boat in plain sight like that’ he thinks.

He turns to his two friends and claps them on back. “Here goes nothing!” They both smile at how he can joke around and be completely serious at the same time.

They make their way around the back of the mansion. There’s definitely a secret door there, but it’s so well-camouflaged that no one would notice it unless they knew it was there. Sonny and Jason position themselves on either side of the door in order to cover Luke’s back. Luke takes a moment to gather his thoughts, then says “Open sesame!” as he presses the small button to the side of the door. It slides open silently, as they get their first look at the place.

The room is very stark. Everything’s steel, and the wall opposite the door is filled with video monitors. The screens all show the same image: Lucky’s room. He’s curled up on a bed, sleeping. Luke feels the tears coming, but pushes them back. Emotions will only cloud his judgment, and that could get both him and his son killed. Faison is sitting in a chair, looking at the monitors intently, his back facing the door. Luke takes a step into the room, holding his gun out in front of him, before speaking.

“Well, if it isn’t my good friend, Herr Krieg!” he announces, causing the man to jump slightly. Faison turns slowly to look at his visitor, then stands.

“Mr. Spencer, it’s good to see you. I take it you couldn’t wait until the end of the week to close our deal.” He says, smirking.

Luke reaches into his pocket and pulls out the phony diamond. “I’ve got my part, and I believe my payment is on those monitors right there, so if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go collect.” He tosses the pouch to Faison, who catches it in one hand. He slides the diamond out and quickly looks it over. It looks real to him, and he’s pleased. Luke moves to go towards the inner door that most likely leads to his son. He sees a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and dives away instinctively as a bullet grazes his arm. As soon as the shot rings out, Sonny and Jason storm in, shooting Faison with their own tranquilizer guns. They had argued for hours with Luke about these, not minding if he wanted one, but preferring real guns for themselves. Luke continued to refuse, and eventually they had to give up. He was too afraid that if anyone had a real gun, his son might accidentally get shot.

“Good work. Thanks.” He says from the floor where he had fallen. He takes a quick look at his arm. It’s only a superficial flesh wound, although it’s bleeding quite a bit. “I’m fine, go back outside and keep watch. Don’t let anyone in or out!” he orders before heading to the other door.

It opens easily, and leads into a long corridor. At the end is another door, only this time there is no way from the outside to open it. He remembers seeing Faison put a small remote control in his pocket earlier and figures that must be the control for the door. He turns and heads back to the outer room.

~*~

A hidden door opens into the room. Helena pokes her head out, looking around. Seeing that the two men outside are occupied with a new batch of guards that had just shown up, she quickly grabs Faison’s unconscious body and drags him into the room. The door closes behind them.

~*~

Luke comes back into the room to find it empty. Faison’s body has disappeared.

“Sonny! Jason!” he yells frantically. This wasn’t supposed to happen. How could he be gone? He was shot twice by those tranquilizers, and should have been out for hours!

The two men appear in the doorway, out of breath from their recent battle. Their eyes widen when they see the empty room.

“Well, where did he go?” Luke asks impatiently.

“He didn’t leave this way. We were out here the whole time. We had to take out a couple of guards, but we never let this door leave our sight. No one came in or left through that door, I swear!” Sonny says, getting nervous. There was no way Faison could have moved on his own, which meant someone else was still around. Probably Helena.

“Okay, whatever. I have to go try to get that door open in there. While I’m doing that, make sure no one comes in behind me!” Luke says before heading back to the hallway, trying to figure out how he was going to do this.

He gets to the door and looks it over. There are no hidden mechanisms to open it. The remote must have been the only way. “Damn!” he says under his breath. He starts pounding in the door, hoping it’s not soundproofed. “Cowboy! You in there?” he yells loudly, praying that his son can hear him.

~*~

Lucky wakes up to the sound of someone pounding on his door. “What the-?” he says, rubbing his eyes. Suddenly he hears a voice coming from the other side, a voice he never thought he’d hear again.

“Cowboy? You in there?”

He thinks for a moment that he must still be asleep, and pinches himself, hoping against all hope that it’s not just a dream. “Ow!” He looks back at the door, the realization dawning on him.

“Dad?” he asks. His voice sounds squeaky and cracked, because he’s fighting back a new wave of tears, but it’s loud enough, and Luke hears it.

“Son! Oh God, you’re all right! I need your help opening the door!” the voice answers.

“There’s a remote. It’s the only way it opens! Dad, how did you find me?” He asks, crying now.

“I’ll explain it all later. Look, Faison is gone, along with that remote thingy, so we need to figure out another way to open this door. Is there anything on your side you can use?”

“No, I don’t think so!” Lucky shouts, but then remembers something. When he was first put in here, he had managed to rewire the door and opened it. That was the first time Faison really threatened him, and he never tried again. “Wait! There might be a way! Hang on!”

He goes to the computer, hoping that Faison hadn’t fixed it. After a few minutes, he finds what he’s looking for. It’s still there! A second later, the door slides open and his father steps into the room. He stops in the doorway so the door can’t close on them, and they both just stand there, frozen, unable to believe their eyes.