General Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Spencer, Elizabeth Webber, or any of the other General Hospital characters, landmarks, background, etc. I hold no delusions that I could be so lucky (no pun intended) as to fix the mess that is currently GH. I did create Andrew Haydn (much to my own dismay), Ryan Sutle, Rachel Heath, Emma Rosing, Caleb Smith, Gwen Salinger, and Elaina Newcomb.
A/N: I feel honor-bound to tell you that Greg Vaughan's Lucky was the inspiration for this story as I desperately want to block out most of the mess that was Flucky and his aftermath. I will also tell you that I actually completed this story in late 2005, so I will have to complete some editing before posting the chapters. I like to believe that my writing has improved in the last 3 1/2 years, but I absolutely welcome your constructive criticism! *fingers crossed* Hopefully, I will be able to post some of my more recent work after finishing the upload of this story.
Prologue
When the phone rang, Lucky had just walked into the door of his apartment in Dallas, TX. The caller id identified his brother, and so despite his fatigue Lucky picked up the handset.
"Nik. What's going on?" Lucky asked, flopping down onto the secondhand couch in the almost empty living room. He had been living in this apartment for just about 4 years now but saw no need to change anything. It was really only a place to sleep between shifts anyway. The only wall decoration was a picture that Elizabeth had painted for him.
"How are things there little brother?" Nikolas answered, trying to make small talk for Emily's sake. She would ask later if Nikolas had talked with Lucky recently, and when he said yes, she would expect to hear details about all Lucky had been up to. Unfortunately, Nikolas had never been great with the small talk.
"Nikolas why did you call? We both know that Emily will call later on this week to check in and grill me on my living habits, which means that you called for a purpose. Just get to it already," Lucky replied. He chuckled, thinking of Nikolas shifting slightly back and forth in the leather chair that sat behind his desk in Wyndemere trying to decide how to word what he wanted to tell Lucky. Normally this meant that Emily had put Nikolas up to the phone call and would be standing over his shoulder trying to listen in on her husband and best friend's conversation.
"She didn't put me up to it," Nikolas said sensing Lucky's thoughts. "There has been a development I just think you need to know about."
The way Nik was posturing made Lucky's stomach drop. "Has something happened to Lulu? Dad?"
"No, no. They're all fine. Lulu misses her big brother but I think she understands. You do realize that I'm going to need helping beating those boys away soon," Nikolas paused, "but I've got off track, now I want you to hear me out completely before you respond, understand?"
"O...kay?"
"I know all the reasons you gave me for why you left. That you sticking around only caused her more pain. That you had to deal with that Sarah infatuation of yours. Whatever. It's been 4 years. You and I both know you are more in love with Elizabeth than ever and that you could easily be transferred back here. Now you're staying away because you are being too much of a coward. Well snap out of it and get back here."
Lucky opened his mouth to respond, but he knew Nikolas was right. He could have easily been transferred to the PCPD anytime in the last 2 years. He was still in love with Elizabeth. And he was being a coward because Lucky just wasn't sure that he could go back and face the betrayal and the hurt in her eyes that he had seen 4 years ago. His plan was to go back and hopefully win her over somehow. That was all he thought about. At the same time, though, he wasn't sure what he would do if he failed. If she couldn't trust him, love him anymore. And so he'd put it off. He was so caught up in his musing that he almost missed Nikolas' next words.
"Lucky, if you ever want a chance with her, this is it. If you don't come back now, she'll be Mrs. Andrew Haydn by the end of the year."