Chapter 24

"Are you sure?" Luke asked softly, staring at the dental x-ray in front of him. He looked up into Laura's tear-filled eyes and she nodded.

"Yes, I'm positive."

He turned to Mac, who also nodded slowly. "That's definitely a filling. I've seen enough of these things by now to know that. Luke, if that body wasn't Lucky then there's a good possibility that Lucien is."

Luke sat in disbelief, shaking his head. His son would never call himself a Cassidine, no matter what Helena or Faison did to him. It wasn't possible. Lucky was too strong. There's no way they could have broken him like that. No way.

Laura looked at her husband and saw the turmoil on his face. She knew that he was fighting with everything he had to keep from believing that Lucien was his son, but she also knew deep in her heart that he was, and no matter how much Luke hated the Cassidines, he would come to see it as well. She reached out and took his hand, hoping to offer some small comfort. He looked up and smiled sadly, then turned to Mac and cleared his throat.

"Well, thanks Bubba, for coming all the way over here with these. We really do appreciate it. Let me know if you come up with any more leads, will ya?"

Mac stood up and nodded, seeing that the couple had some issues to deal with. "No problem. I have to get these back to the department, though," he said, picking up the dental records. They nodded and Laura walked him to the door.

Once Mac was gone, she turned to Luke and looked him squarely in the eyes. "Luke, how long are you going to keep this up?"

"Keep what up?"

"Oh, you know damn well what I'm talking about! Weren't those x-rays proof enough, or am I going to have to drag that boy into GH to have a DNA test done?" she shouted, unable to control her anger any longer.

"Baby, I know you truly believe that he's Lucky, but I just can't, not yet. True, those x-rays proved that Lucky wasn't in that fire, and as much of a relief to me as that is, it doesn't prove anything about Lucien."

Laura shook her head in disbelief. "Do you hear what you're saying? Lucien Cassidine is a dead ringer for our son, pardon the expression. You even said yourself that you only had to take one look in his eyes, and you thought that's who he was. Have you conveniently forgotten that already?"

"It was just the grief speaking. I saw what I wanted to see, not what was really there..." Luke muttered, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince his wife.

She sighed in frustration and stood up. "Fine, you believe whatever you want to. In the meantime, I'll be with Elizabeth, Nikolas, and Carly trying to figure out how to save my son!" She stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Luke flinched, then put his head in his hands and cried.

~*~

Helena was sitting out on the back patio, enjoying the sunrise, when Faison came outside. She turned to look at him briefly, then went back to her book. "Well, did your men find anything yet?"

"Not much. The hotels all check out, except for one. There was a guest by the name of Lou Smith staying at the Port Charles Hotel around the time we think Lucien left. He paid cash, but he checked out a couple of days ago."

"Do you think he left already? Maybe Luke ran him out of town," she said smugly.

Faison shook his head. "I really don't know. The men we have watching Stefan haven't reported anything. I don't see why you insist on keeping them away from Nikolas. For all we know, that's where he is!"

"My grandson is no threat to me, so why should I have him followed around day and night? It's a waste of manpower."

Faison sighed. "Well, there is one other bit of news. Elizabeth Webber is back in town."

Helena sat up and turned around to face him. "Oh really? Well, that could prove quite costly for us. What has she been up to?"

"She's been in the hospital since the day she arrived. She just got out last night."

"The hospital? Oh, I hope the poor dear isn't sick," Helena said sarcastically.

"All I could find out was that she collapsed in a restaurant. Once I saw that she was back, I put someone on her," Faison explained.

Helena chuckled. "Good idea. If Lucien is there, I'm sure sooner or later they'll bump into each other. After all, we may have poisoned his mind, but not his heart. Once he sees his lady love, he will be unable to stay away from her, even if doesn't understand why..." she said dramatically, placinng her hand over her chest.

He rolled his eyes. "Are you sure that's wise? If anyone in that town can recognize him, it's her. With the exception of his parents, of course. I have a very bad feeling about this, Helena."

She shook her head. "Nonsense. Everything is going perfectly. So he wanted to disobey us for once and go somewhere forbidden. Now that he's seen that Port Charles isn't anything special, he'll be on the next flight back to Paris. You'll see." She turned back to the fading sun and smiled.

Faison turned and went back into the house. She was too sure of her work, and that was dangerous. If Lucien was back in Port Charles, surrounded by his former family and friends, it would only be a matter of time before they started recognizing him, an even worse, before he would recognize them.

~*~

"Is it too soon to call her?" Lucien asked, pacing around Nikolas's living room.

Nikolas chuckled. "Man, you've got it bad, haven't you? Look, if you want to call her, then do it. Don't be such a wuss!" He laughed again when he realized what he had just said. 'Wuss' was not a word Nikolas Cassidine used. It was something Lucky would say, but not him. Maybe he was hanging around Luke too much!

"What's so funny?" Lucien asked, still pacing.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something. So, are you going to call her or not?"

"I don't know. I want to, but I don't know what to say."

'Lucky? Speechless?' he thought, and began to laugh again. When Lucien shot him an evil glare, he apologized and stopped, stifling a chuckle here and there. When he regained his composure, he went over and picked up the cordless phone. "Here," he said, holding it out to Lucian. "Call her. I'm sure you'll think of something to tall about. Just ask her if she had a good time or something, but call her for crying out loud, before you wear a track on my carpet!"

Lucien smiled sheepishly at Nikolas's outstretched hand. "Okay, I'll call her." He took the phone and turned it on, then looked back at his cousin and blushed. "Um...I don't know her number."

Nikolas sighed. "Oh, give me that!" he said, exasperated, and snatched the phone away. He quickly dialed her number and handed it back to him.

"Thanks," Lucien said quietly, his heart racing as he waited for her to answer.

Graphics Courtesy Of: