Disclaimer: The idea is mine.

Babble: Thank you all so very much for the wonderful replies I got last chapter!!!!! You have no idea how thrilled I was to see them, and know that people were in fact reading this story and liked it enough to reply. As always thanks so much, and please leave me more. ((I'm greedy but I admit that fact.)) With the dark subject matter of this fic, it's very encouraging, so thanks again.

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Her Greatest Mistake

Chapter 10

~Boxcar~

Johnny hurriedly jumped up on the boxcar and what he saw offended even his jaded eyes. Covering the walls were photos of Elizabeth. Photo's of her walking, talking, sleeping, smiling, frowning, speaking, some from a distance some from close up, some were posed but most were unaware. Her face was everywhere you looked, her eyes seemed to follow you when you moved. But in lots of the photos her face was splattered with blood.

As disturbing as that was there was something far worse. To the left of the boxcar underneath a faded painted picture of a bed, was a woman. She was slumped low on the ground, her head on her chest, her matted brown hair partially shielding her face. Her arms were held up over her head by the handcuffs on her wrists that were looped over a hook that had been bolted into the wall. Her khaki pants were heavily stained and crusted with blood. Her shirt lay in tattered remnants around her, the once fair skin of her stomach was bruised and bloody.

Jason was standing immobile a few feet in front of her. Johnny had never seen his friend look so pale. He paused by him for a second, then moved closer and crouched down beside her. He pulled some gloves from his pocket and quickly put them on before reaching out to check for a pulse. Judging from the smell he knew he wouldn't find one, he hoped that he was wrong … but he wasn't.

"I'm sorry Jason," he turned to look at Jason who was still staring at her. "She's dead."

~Cottage~

Nikolas held Gia in his arms, he couldn't seem to make himself let go of her. If he let her go, if he laid her down, then it would be real. Then she would be dead. As long as he held her there was still a chance, a chance that this was an awful mistake. That this was a horrible dream that he just needed to wake up from. He would wake up and she would be mad at him for almost forcing her off the bed again. How many times had her cursing woken him up? Cursing because the only reason she was still on the bed was because of an arm he had locked around her waist.

She couldn't be gone, she was so full of life, full of love, she couldn't leave him. Not like this, he had let her in farther then anyone else, she couldn't leave him now. "Please," he whispered again, even though a part of him new it was useless.

He gradually became aware of Lucky groaning on the floor behind him. Lucky, his name hardened everything into reality for him. He shifted and cupped the back of her head then gently laid her down on the landing. Her unsupported head fell to the side and he lightly traced her face one last time. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before getting to his feet and turning to face his brother … her killer.

Nikolas felt detached as he watched Lucky sit up and moan, before clutching his head in apparent pain. He watched Lucky look around in confusion, before his eyes came to rest on him. He could see the fear, pain and confusion in those blue eyes and he hardened his heart to them.

"Nikolas how did I get here?" the pain in his head was intense but he could recognize his brother. "What happened?"

"You broke in and attacked us," his voice was harsh. He was amazed he could speak at all, the anger he felt seemed to be choking him.

"I attacked you," he repeated in confusion getting to his knees. His eyes caught sight of a gun lying on the floor under the couch, and he felt a strange sense of longing telling him to pick it up. He fought that thought and got to his feet. "I wouldn't attack you."

"Really like you wouldn't hurt Elizabeth? Like you wouldn't shoot Gia?" Nikolas demanded. "Look at yourself Lucky," he moved quickly then catching Lucky off guard.

"What," was all Lucky had time to say before Nikolas had his arm-twisted around his back. The pain immobilized his struggles and he moved with the pain as Nikolas propelled him forward.

"Look at yourself," Nikolas yelled shoving him closer to a mirror. "Look at the blood you have all over yourself. Look into the face of Gia's killer."

Lucky shook his head and closed his eyes, it couldn't be true, it just couldn't be. "I would never hurt anybody."

Incensed by his denial, Nikolas changed his grip and twisted Lucky's head forcing him to look at Gia on the landing. "Oh no? Look at her, look at what you did to her."

Lucky's eyes widened at the sight of her lifeless body, vague memories of a gunshot rang in his ear. His eyes locked on the heavy red stain on her white shirt, then moved to her fixed eyes. "I did that?"

The confused question got through some of the anger that was controlling Nikolas and he let go of Lucky's head. "Yes you did that to her. You did that right after you said you killed Elizabeth."

Lucky turned his head to look in the mirror. He was horrified at what he saw, the blood stains on his shirt, the scratch marks on his face, the cut on his forehead, the blood on his brow, the blood in his hair. The longer he looked the more desperate he became. When had he turned into a monster? "What's wrong with me Nikolas? I don't understand."

Nikolas tried to keep the hate in his heart but in that instant he could see his brother's eyes in the reflection. They were lost and confused and they were begging Nikolas to help him understand what was happening to him. Seeing those eyes he couldn't help but remember his brother of almost two years ago, the brother he would have done anything for. "I don't know what is wrong with you."

"You said I hurt Elizabeth," he closed his eyes and tried to remember. There was a strange sound in his head that made it hard for him to think. "Did I hurt her bad?"

"I don't know Lucky," Nikolas' grip on him loosened slightly. "But you need help."

"You need help, Lucky…. Lucky you need help…. You need help…. You need help."

Elizabeth's voice rang in his ears, he opened his eyes and focused on the mirror again, but he didn't see the mirror, all he saw was the boxcar, and her.

"Lucky look at this," Elizabeth croaked, the tears falling uselessly from her eyes. "You need help."

"No I just need you," Lucky shot back keeping a tight grip on her arm.

"You need more help that I can give you. I thought you were getting better, but my god Lucky. Look at what you've done," she gestured with her free hand. "Lucky you need serious help."

"Stop saying that," he shrieked and backhanded her sending her to the floor of the car.

He stood over her, a part of him angry that she was continuing to defy him, another part of him screaming out to help her. "Elizabeth," he crouched beside her to help her to her feet. "I'm sorry."

"I can't take this anymore," her voice was weak. She pushed herself to her knees, and avoiding his hand got slowly to her feet under her own power. "I can't let you do this to me anymore Lucky. One day you're going to kill me."

Lucky rocked back in horror. "I would never kill you, I love you."

She pointed to her face, and the blood that was beginning to come from her nose. "Is this love to you? Is hurting me love? If it is I don't want your love."

He stared at his hands, when had they become someone else's? When did they become the hands of a monster? Why couldn't he control them anymore? "I don't want to hurt you," he whispered.

"I know," she sighed. "I thought I could help you. That if I was patient enough maybe I could save you from yourself, and whatever Helena did to you, but I can't. Every time you hurt me you kill another part of me. Soon there won't be enough of me left to live. I'm leaving you while I still can."

Leaving, the word seemed to echo in the boxcar, inside his head. It set off a fear so deep inside of him, that he didn't even know it was there. She couldn't leave, she was his only link to the world, she was his savior. "No."

"Yes Lucky, I'm already gone," she leaned heavily against the wall by the door, as if to steady herself before climbing down.

Before he was even aware what he was doing, he was by the door gripping the handle. "I will never let you go, I need you to much."

At his words she bowed her head against the wall for a second but then reached out and grasped the doorframe to support her way down. "Goodbye Lucky."

"No," he yelled and slammed the door. Her scream of pain reverberated in the boxcar and caused a ringing in his ears.

"No, God no," horrified by the memory and still hearing her scream in his ears, his breaths began coming in pants. He couldn't have done that to her, he loved her, she had his heart forever. "God no please."

Nikolas could hear the terror in Lucky's voice and the fear he had for Elizabeth increased. "What did you do to her?" He shook Lucky. "Where is she?"

"Elizabeth," he moaned her name and slumped to the floor when his strength gave out, bringing an off-balance Nikolas with him.

~General Hospital~

"Kevin thanks for coming so soon," Bobbie smiled in relief when she heard the ding of the elevator.

"I got here as soon as I got your message," Dr. Kevin Collins replied moving closer to the Nurses' station. "What happened?"

"Audrey Hardy was shot last night," she explained, moving around to the front of the desk.

"On no, is she going to be okay?"

"Its touch and go," she admitted moving towards the lounge and settling heavily in a chair. She hadn't allowed herself to stop moving since she heard about Audrey. She had been afraid her concern over Audrey would take control and she wouldn't be able to function.

"Are you okay? I know you two are close," he asked noticing the weariness in her eyes.

"Yes we are, but it wasn't always like that. When I first started I trained under her and Jessie Brewer," she smiled wryly. "I was such a bitch then. My goal such as it was, was to meet and marry the richest doctor I could land," she shook her head in memory. "I thought that was what Audrey had done too. Needless to say Audrey didn't like me very much at first, but she was fair to me, and gave me a chance when I didn't really deserve one."

"She was one of the first to accept me on staff here. After what Ryan had done, most people took one look at me and wanted to hit me, but not Audrey. She gave me a chance. When I had my own problems a few years later, she still stood by me," and for that he would always be grateful to her.

"She's like that," a tear slipped past her defenses. "I can't do this, she's a great lady. She didn't deserve to be shot, in the back, in her own home," she snapped angrily.

"She was at home?"

"Yes. She was in bed and someone came into her house, and when she tried to run away they shot her in the back and left her for dead." She was nurse dedicated to saving lives, but she was also a human being and what had happened to Audrey angered her so much that she wanted to hurt whoever did it.

"It's normal to feel angry Bobbie," he could see the anger in her eyes and tried to validate it. "When something bad happens to someone we love, it is only natural that we want to punish the person responsible."

"Maybe," she conceded. "But I can't think about that now. Right now I have to concentrate on getting through the day," she brushed the tears away. "As you can see what happened to Audrey is going to effect a lot of people here. She runs the nursing program, so a lot of us are shaky. I need you to do what you do best and be here to counsel the nurses and anyone else who needs it."

"Of course," he agreed immediately. He wished there was more that he could do, but this was a way to help.

"With Gail Baldwin still on vacation we're short handed, so you will probably be busy," she got to her feet. "I need to get back to ICU."

"Has the family been informed?" he trailed her to the desk. "I should probably start with Elizabeth."

"She doesn't know yet," Bobbie turned to face him. "We've managed to reach her son and stepsons, but no one can find Elizabeth."

Kevin frowned, the first prickle on unease moving through him, he didn't like the sound of that. "That sounds strange."

"Apparently Lucky took her out of town. I know Nikolas and Taggert are trying to track them down," she heard her name being paged and began to hurry away. "I'll talk to you later."

Kevin nodded but didn't respond. He slowly turned around and headed for his office, his mind was replaying a conversation he'd had with Elizabeth three days ago.

Elizabeth glanced down the hall then spoke quickly. "Lucky mentioned that he wants to go out of town on a trip."

"I don't think that's wise Elizabeth," Kevin replied. "He needs to keep up his therapy, in fact I was going to suggest, we start meeting more than twice a week."

"He's getting worse isn't he?" she kept her voice low.

"The sessions are getting more intense," was all he could really tell her. "I still would feel better if you left him."

"You know I can't do that."

"Elizabeth I can look at you and tell that his treatment of you is getting worse and worse." He looked down the hall and saw Lucky talking with Bobbie and decided to continue on. "Has he hit you again?"

She averted her eyes and shrugged.

"Elizabeth staying with someone who is violent is never a good idea. You can't help Lucky if you're dead."

"He wouldn't kill me," she said quickly.

"You once thought he would never hit you either," frustration over not being able to reach Lucky or her, was welling up in him. "There comes a time when you have to put yourself first."

"I just have to hang on until Luke comes back, you need to keep helping him, and so do I," she argued. "We have come to far to quit on him now."

"Elizabeth you need to protect yourself."

"I'm trying," her voice broke. "Do you think I like this?"

"Then leave him, help me get him committed. He needs more than outpatient treatment anyway. You say you want to help him but you won't let me do the things that he needs the most, instead you are enabling him." He knew he was pressing her but he hadn't liked the behavior Lucky had been exhibiting in the last few weeks.

"He won't go, he'll run, and if you do catch him, he will hurt them and himself, rather than be in a hospital," she sighed. "Can't you wait until Luke comes back? He might have some more information for us."

"I can wait," he said after a minute. "But can you? You have to be with him everyday."

She shuddered, "I just have to remember the reason I'm doing this," she saw Lucky head in their direction. "I need to go."

"Elizabeth don't go out of town with him. He can't hurt you too badly here, because you have to see people you know. But if you go out of town, that restraint will be gone," Kevin hissed hurriedly.

"Believe me I won't," she vowed. "No matter what I have to do I won't leave town with him."

Why had she changed her mind? He remembered the last few sessions he'd had with Lucky, and the anger he sensed that was building up in the boy. He began to wonder if she did change her mind or if something happened to her.

~Cottage~

"Lucky tell me what you did to her," Nikolas demanded, moving quickly to grasp Lucky by the shirt. "What did you do?"

"I hurt her, I hurt her real bad. Don't you hear her screaming?" he asked, it was so loud in his head it sounded like a siren.

"Where is she?" Nikolas jerked Lucky's head and shoulders from the floor then slammed them back down. "Tell me."

The blow cleared the confusion from Lucky's mind. The siren disappeared and the familiar roar of his anger was back in its place. "I already told you, I hurt her," he reached out with his right hand and managed to grasp the gun.

Nikolas recoiled at the words slightly. He noticed a split second too late the cunning in Lucky's eyes. He pressed his elbow down on Lucky's throat but froze when he felt the gun against his temple.

"Get off of me Nikolas," his words were remote, there was no emotion in them anymore.

"Put the gun down," Nikolas ordered, his voice firm.

"Move," Lucky pressed the gun harder into his temple, and forced Nikolas back off of him. "I didn't want to do this. I just wanted you to help me find Elizabeth," he told him getting to his feet.

Nikolas sat back on his knees. "I will never help you find her."

"Why? I'm your brother."

Nikolas heard the hurt in Lucky's voice and it saddened him. Yes Lucky was his brother, but it seemed that Lucky was gone. "You need help."

"Why does everyone tell me that?" he demanded, backhanding Nikolas, catching him off guard.

"Is that what you did to Elizabeth?" He felt strangely calm given the fact that someone was holding a gun on him.

Lucky looked at his hand again. "I don't want to be like this."

"Then give me the gun," Nikolas held out his hand. "And let me help you."

Lucky looked at the gun in his hand, it felt wrong there, it was so heavy, it didn't belong in his hand. He began to extend it out to Nikolas.

The phone began to ring then, shattering the quiet in the room and startling them both. Lucky's eyes jerked to the phone and Nikolas used the distraction to charge Lucky. He caught him around the waist in a flying tackle sending them both back into the desk and then into the wall.

Lucky yelped in pain when his head cracked the mirror shattering it. He pounded with the gun on Nikolas' back and forced him to let him go.

Nikolas staggered back but recovered quickly his fist connected with Lucky's jaw and sent him into a chair. He moved after him, then went flying back when Lucky lifted a foot and caught him in the midsection.

Lucky stood and turned to face him, just as Nikolas began his next attack. He automatically raised the gun in defense and aimed it at his brother and pulled the trigger.

Nikolas saw the gun pointed at him, but didn't care, he only wanted to stop Lucky. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, Lucky pulled the trigger, and he waited for the pain to hit, but nothing happened, it was out of bullets. He moved forward then to try to subdue Lucky, but Lucky moved quicker, swinging the gun and catching him on the corner of his head. Staggered Nikolas fell to his knees. Lucky hit him again in the side of the head, and Nikolas blacked out falling heavily to the floor. Lucky hit him again and was raising his hand to do it for a fourth time when he heard her.

"Lucky."

"Elizabeth?" He stopped his motion and looked around for her.

"Lucky, you have my heart and that's a permanent lock."

"And you have mine Elizabeth," Lucky whispered to her. He moved towards the door and tripped, falling on top of Gia. "Oh god," he gasped and quickly got off of her. What had happened to her? He looked around desperately and saw Nikolas lying lifeless on the floor, blood coming from a cut on his head. "Nikolas?" he took a step closer only to stop in horror when he saw the gun in his hand.

"What did I do?" the gun slipped from his shaking hand. "God what did I do?" He heard the sounds of sirens in the distance and quickly ran from the cottage.

~Penthouse~

"Lieutenant Taggert and Detective Garcia are here to see you," Pete announced, keeping the door partially closed, shielding their view of the room.

Sonny took a final glance around the penthouse. "Let Alexis know and let them in."

He remained seated at the table when Taggert walked in followed by Garcia. "So what do Port Charles finest have on their minds today? You do realize I don't sell coffee here, that's only at the warehouse."

Taggert stalked to the table, refusing to be impressed by either the room or the man. He knew who Sonny Corinthos really was, and he was no one to be admired. "What do I normally want from you Corinthos?"

"My head on a platter," Sonny sipped his coffee. "But you never seem to manage that, you must like failing."

"It's only a matter of time Corinthos," Taggert countered resting his hands on the table. "You'll screw up and I'll have you right where I want you."

"Really Lieutenant this is getting old," Alexis Davis commented before closing the door. "I would have thought that you would have learned your lesson by now," she shook her head and crossed to the table. "It's barely 10:00 in the morning and you are already harassing my client."

Taggert bristled at her words but tried to keep his temper. He knew from bitter experience not to try to best her in word play. Being a lawyer she was sneaky enough that he would never win. "I have a perfectly legal right to be here."

"Really? Do you have a warrant or a subpoena? Did you call first and make an appointment? Or did you just barge in here unannounced and demand that my client speak to you?"

"No Pete out there announced us," Garcia spoke for the first time.

Alexis couldn't help the slight smile at his words. Taggert was a hothead and it was easy to press his buttons. But Garcia was cooler, she had to work harder to rile him. "Very amusing Detective."

Garcia nodded and kept his eyes on her. It was always hard for him to come to this place. He was always reminded of Lily when he came here. Other than the ottoman and the new desk the place looked exactly the same as when she was alive. It looked the same but it didn't feel the same to him. It was missing the warmth and laughter that she had brought into these dark rooms. He focused on Sonny, who was sitting at the head of the table eating a croissant like he was the Lord of the Manor, and they were just annoying little flies that were bothering him. Sonny was the reason that Lily was dead. It always took him a few minutes to control the anger that rose in him.

"So is there a point to this?" Alexis asked absently, concentrating more on the coffee she had just poured, then them. Sonny did have the best coffee, she didn't understand it, she used the same beans he did, but hers turned out as sludge while his was excellent.

"You have an employee but the name of Calvert Rogers?" Garcia addressed Sonny.

Sonny felt the cool animosity coming off of Garcia, but answered calmly enough. "Yes he's a personal bodyguard of my wife's."

"When was the last time you spoke to him?" Taggert asked.

"Cal finished his shift around 6:00 yesterday, I saw him when I got home about 6:15," he replied easily.

"So you haven't spoken to Rogers since then?" Garcia pressed.

"Is there a point to this?" Alexis interrupted.

"Rogers was found beaten to death about 4:30 this morning."

"And you think my client was somehow involved?" she demanded. She may not know what had happened to Cal, she may never know, but she was positive that Sonny was not involved in beating him to death.

"Did I say that?" Taggert looked towards Garcia in question.

"I don't think so," Garcia commented. "Maybe there's someone with a guilty conscious in the room."

"Great P.C.P.D.'s version of Abbott and Costello," Alexis griped.

"I was thinking more of Dumb and Dumber," Sonny corrected mildly.

Alexis snorted.

"Did you know what Rogers did when he got off of work last night?" Garcia ignored the dig and continued on. He knew it was unlikely that Sonny would let anything slip, but you never knew.

"No. Once they leave my employees are free to do whatever they want to do. I'm not their mother," he studied Taggert and decided to make a preemptive strike. "I was aware of what happened to Cal though, that he was found dead. I have already contacted the hospital and a funeral home."

Alexis hid her surprise, but inwardly she was worried. Sonny never volunteered information. Not unless he was trying to throw someone off the track.

"And how did you know that?" Taggert demanded.

"Mike Corbin, my father, came to see me earlier. He was quite upset. It seems he discovered a body, it wasn't until later on that he placed the man as Cal Rogers, he immediately came to me and told me what happened," Sonny explained, making sure to cover Mike's butt.

Taggert felt disgusted he had hoped to zing Corinthos with that little bit of information, but it seemed that Corinthos was well prepared for this meeting. "Don't you find it odd that…" he trailed off when his cell phone began to ring. With a sigh he moved towards the door and answered it. "Taggert.

"Lieutenant, there's been another shooting," a female's voice came over the line.

"Another shooting? What is it a holiday?" Taggert grumbled then remembered that it was in fact a holiday. "Give it to someone else Lily I already have two on my plate, and I'm questioning someone right now."

"I know," Lily lowered her voice. "I'm letting you know because of the address of the victim. It's 1507 Mockingbird Lane. The house belongs to Nikolas Cassadine, doesn't your sister live there?"

"There was a shooting at Cassadine's?" he repeated quietly, he couldn't have heard her correctly.

"Yes. Black and whites are on the scene," she debated with herself before going on. "They requested an ambulance and a coroner."

Taggert felt his blood run cold at her words, a coroner, a shooting, at his sister's house. "I'm on my way," he turned to Garcia. "We need to leave now."

Garcia took one look at his face and didn't argue. "We'll be in touch with the rest of the questions counselor," he addressed Alexis and never spared Sonny a glance as he followed Taggert out of the room.

"What happened?" he asked Taggert who was pounding on the elevator call button.

"There's been a shooting at my sister's house," he looked at Garcia. "Someone is dead."

"Christ," Garcia muttered and got on the elevator.

~Penthouse~

"Was it something we said?" Alexis turned to Sonny after the cop's abrupt exit.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Can you sit? There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Does this have anything to do with Cal?" she asked settling in a seat.

"I have a hypothetical question for you. What if someone is attacked and they don't report it. Are they breaking a law?"

"No."

"What if during that attack they see someone else being attacked, and again they don't report it right away. Is that against the law?"

"Now you're getting into the gray area," Alexis frowned. "Normally most DA's and police officers don't say much because there is the fear element, of one victim to deal with. A victim could be hurt themselves, or in terror for their life, so it gives them some leeway in reporting things. But it is better for the person if they report what they know sooner rather then later. Why?"

Sonny ignored her question for a minute. He wanted to protect Emily, but he knew her, she would want to say what happened. She would probably need to tell people what happened to her, what she had seen with Elizabeth. She would have to do that to heal, he knew from personal experience that it was impossible to heal if you tried to pretend nothing happened. But he also wanted more time for Jason and him to try to find Elizabeth before the cops got involved. If the cops did find out, Lucky could get violent with them, and they might shoot him before they found out about Elizabeth, and he couldn't afford that. No she couldn't afford that. The Quartermaine's would be a problem eventually as well, although she was over 18 she did still live with them, she didn't come home. And all those injuries would need to be explained away some how.

"Sonny," Alexis touched his hand to get his attention. "I need some more information before I can give you the best advice."

"For now it goes no farther," he waited for her nod. "Emily showed up here last night, she had been beaten. She said Lucky did it."

Alexis gasped. "How bad is she hurt?"

"Physically she'll recover," he sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "There's more. She walked in on him attacking Elizabeth, she thinks she saw him kill her."

"Elizabeth, Lucky killed Elizabeth?" Alexis pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to fathom that. It seemed to unreal for her to believe, this was going to kill Nikolas.

"Maybe. She came here and wanted to talk to Jason, I got him here for her," he chose his next words carefully. "I then went and checked out the studio where this happened. There was a lot of blood but no Elizabeth, we can't find her either alive or dead."

She ignored the fact that he more than likely broke into the studio to concentrate on the most important thing, which was Emily. "I take it the police don't know about this yet?"

"I doubt it."

"Okay," she got to her feet and began to pace, she always thought better when she moved. "It would be better for Emily if she went to the police, rather than waiting for the police to find her. You said she was hurt, it was serious?"

"Head injuries, broken ribs."

"Alright we can use that," she thought about what she had been trained to do in this situation for a second and pushed it aside. "We can probably get another six or seven hours out of that because of the injury. We say she was trying to recuperate enough that she could tell the police."

He noticed she didn't mention Jason and his conspicuous absence from the apartment. Alexis was smart, she knew he was probably out looking for Elizabeth now. She also found a way to give them more time to try to find things out. "Will you be here when we need to call them?"

"Of course." She stopped speaking when Pete entered the room and crossed over to Sonny to whisper something in his ear. Whatever Pete had said it was bad news, judging from the way Sonny clenched his fists as he listened.

"Thanks," he told Pete in dismissal, and then got to his feet and crossed to Alexis.

"Pete overheard Taggert and Garcia talking," he told her quietly taking her hands. "There was a shooting, it was at Nikolas' house."

"What?" she shook her head in denial. "No that can't be right."

"That's what he heard."

"I got to go," she started backing away from him. "I need to find Nikolas, Stefan, I need to leave."

Sonny hurried to the door and opened it for her. "Pete have Adam bring the car around and have him take her where she needs to go."

"Thanks," Alexis said briefly before hurrying to her apartment across the hall.

"Alexis call me when you know something," he called after her.

Sonny headed back inside and sand wearily on the couch. A shooting at Nikolas Cassadine's house, he wondered if that had anything to do with Lucky. Christ he hoped not.

~P.C.P.D. Lab~

"How are those tests coming?" Whitey demanded.

"I've done one more since the last time you asked," Brian replied. He knew Whitey was a bear to work for. Normally you looked past it, but today it was like something had crawled up his ass and died there.

"Well get busy," Whitey ordered, then moved onto the next tech.

Brian sighed and pulled the next bullet out of the stockpiled bullets they had, and checked it to see if it was a match to one they had retrieved from Audrey Hardy.

"Tara, why haven't you downloaded this yet?" Whitey picked up a print card and waved it at her.

"Hertz wanted me to load these prints he retrieved from the Rogers beating," she explained. "Since his was a murder, and yours was an attempted murder, I did his first."

Brian hid a winch. Tara was new here, only her fourth day, so she didn't know any better. But she was about to find out what happened if you put someone else before what Whitey requested.

"You thought?" Whitey repeated. "What gives you the idea that you can do that? You don't think unless I tell you to, you don't breathe unless I tell you too. What you had three courses in criminology in college and you think that is enough to make you smarter then me, when I've been doing this for 35 years?"

"No…"

Shut up Tara, Brian thought.

"What you are is a drone. You do what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it. You don't think, you input," Whitey's voice rose but no one in the lab looked over, they didn't want to be his next target.

"I'll do it right now," her voice was low.

"Move," Whitey snapped.

"What?"

"Move," he pulled on her chair and she jumped out. He sat and hurriedly typed a few things and then inputted the print. "You see how easy that was," he hit another key and split the screen in two. "You can run two comparisons at once." he got to his feet now that his material was being run he was in a better mood again. "If you don't know how to do something Tara just ask," he patted her arm then moved away.

Brian shook his head, when Tara sank back in her seat. "That was a crash course in Whitey 101."

She watched the fingerprints flick through her computer at a dizzying speed. "I hope I never need a refresher course."

~Cottage~

"What do we have?" Garcia asked jumping out of the car as soon as he stopped it.

"A neighbor reported hearing shots and phoned it in. She reported seeing a young man," the officer consulted his notes. "A blonde in bloody jeans and a white shirt, run from the scene about 10 minutes after the shot. The first unit arrived on the scene about 3 minutes after that. The front door was open, we found the first victim, dead of a gunshot wound on the landing. The second was on the living room floor, he has a head injury but is still alive," he held up a paper bag containing a .38. "We recovered this, it's been fired recently, it may be the murder weapon."

Taggert heard the report, from a distance, his eyes locked on the open door of the cottage. He moved slowly towards it, when he saw an ambulance worker walk out of the door carrying a stretcher. He hurried to the stretcher hoping to see his sister on it, his footsteps faltered when he saw it was Nikolas. The attendant's wheeled the stretcher by him, and continued on to the waiting ambulance.

Taggert headed for the cottage door, only to stop when Garcia intercepted him. "You don't want to see this."

"Move Garcia," his voice was eerily calm and detached.

"Marcus if it is her then you shouldn't…"

"Don't you see it's because it might be her that I need to see this," he countered.

Garcia sighed and stepped back letting Marcus past him and into the house.

~GH~

Pain, it seemed to radiate from everywhere, but everywhere wasn't as large as it should have been. She seemed to feel nothing below her ribcage. Why was there pain and then nothingness? She tried to open her eyes, but it was so hard. She used what little energy she had and finally opened one eye.

Bright, the light was so bright she immediately closed the eye again. Better to be in the dark then see the bright light. Leave me alone her mind screamed when someone began to talk to her. Let me drift in the dark, but the voice persisted.

"Audrey can you open your eyes?"

Audrey felt the pull of that voice and forced her eyes open again, she blinked heavily and drew the person in focus. "B-bob..."

"Don't try to talk," Bobbie cut her off, bringing a glass with a straw to her lips. "Drink."

Audrey did as she was told, some of the fire in her throat receded.

"Do you know where you are?" Bobbie asked gently.

"GH," she answered. But why? Why was she here? Why did she hurt? She blinked again and the memory slammed into her. Elizabeth, Lucky, blood, gun, Lucky, Elizabeth. "Elizabeth."

"We'll get her for you Audrey," Bobbie said quickly hoping to ease the worry that appeared in Audrey's eyes.

"Save Elizabeth," she managed to get the words out. "Save her."

"Save her from who?" Bobbie asked. "Audrey do you know who hurt you?"

"L-lucky," Audrey gasped. "Save her from Lucky."

Bobbie looked at her in shock, was Audrey delirious? "What?"

"Lucky shot me, he's after Elizabeth," she felt herself getting weaker. "Help Elizabeth, help he…"

"Audrey," Bobbie whispered, but it was too late, Audrey was unconscious again.

She backed away from the bed and moved towards the desk in the other room. Audrey seemed lucid, she knew who she was, she knew where she was, but she also said Lucky had shot her. That couldn't be right, Lucky wouldn't shoot her.

"Bobbie are you okay?" Kevin asked after seeing her freeze in one place for a few minutes.

"Audrey woke up," Bobbie answered absently.

"That's good," he paused. "Isn't it?"

"She said Lucky was the one who shot her," the words slipped out before she had a chance to stop them.

"Christ," Kevin bowed his head. His biggest fear was finally coming true.

"You don't seem surprised," Bobbie studied his face. "You believe her?"

"Let the police know," Kevin dodged her question.

"Kevin," she caught his arm before he could walk away. "He's my nephew. What is going on? He isn't capable of this."

"If you love him, call the police," he pulled free and walked away.

Bobbie crossed to the phone and dialed a number from memory. "Lesley I need to talk to Laura … I don't care if she's out of town, I want you to get her to call me in the next five minutes, I'm at the hospital … Tell her it is the most important call she ever had to make … Damn'it Lesley just do it." She snapped and hung up the phone.

Lucky it couldn't be possible that he had done this. It just couldn't be. Audrey and Kevin had to be wrong. "Help Elizabeth." She looked at the phone, Kevin said to call the police, but could she do that, could she turn in her own nephew?

"Help Elizabeth."

~Cottage~

The first thing he saw when he walked in the room was the stark white chalk outline that surrounded her on the landing.

Flash went a camera as they recorded the scene.

Next he focused on the black body bag, the one that two attendants were putting her in.

Flash

Her hair caught under the bag, and one of the attendants pulled it free and tucked it inside of the bag.

Flash

He heard the sound of the zipper being brought up along the side and closing her inside that dark and slick bag.

Flash

"But I don't want to go to school today," Gia pouted. "Macy Widdoes will be there."

"So what if she is?" Marcus asked walking beside her on the way to their respective schools.

"She's mean," Gia kicked at the sidewalk. "I don't like her."

"Wasn't she your best friend yesterday?" he asked half-heartedly he was trying to figure out a way to get another five bucks so he could by his history report from, Verne.

"She isn't anymore. She said I wasn't really black."

That caused him to focus on her. "What?"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "She said I was too white to be black, but Teresa Monroe, said I was too black to be white."

"Fuck," he shook his head and crouched beside her. "They are both jerks and neither one of them are your friend. You're Gia Campbell, you're my sister, and you're so much better then they are."

"Really?"

"Yes, if either one of them says anything to you again," he took her hand and curled her fingers in a fist. "I want you to hit them in the stomach, and then run like hell."

"Marcus," she giggled.

"Okay I know it will be hard but ignore them. When they are fat old ladies sitting on a stoop with five kids and a bum husband in jail, do you know where you'll be?"

"I'll be far away, and rich and famous," she answered her eyes sparkling again. She caught sight of her bus and began to hurry to it. "Marcus," she paused down the street. "No matter where I go, you'll always be my big brother, right? Because you always take care of me, and I don't want to lose you."

"You won't, now scat."

Flash

She had made it, she was famous, and she was working on being rich. "Give me a minute," he told a tech, and dropped beside her, before he could close the bag.

Flash

Her eyes were open, but other then that her face was smooth, peaceful, no mark of violence on it. She looked beautiful. He traced her cheek in goodbye, "You were so much better then you ever thought you were."

Flash

He grasped the zipper and slowly hid her beautiful face from the world again.

~Boxcar~

She's dead, she's dead, she's dead. The words seemed to echo in his brain, but he couldn't quite understand them. She couldn't be dead. She was too full of life to be dead. She was a fighter, she wanted to live, she wanted to paint, she wanted to see Italy, she couldn't be gone.

Johnny got awkwardly to his feet. Jason still hadn't moved. "Jason," he carefully touched his arm.

Jason's eyes remained locked on her body. He refused to believe that she was dead. He refused to think that he was too late to save her, in this place of all places, where she had once saved his life, she couldn't have lost her own here. "No."

"Jason I'm sorry."

"No," Jason shook his head. "She's not dead," he focused on Johnny then. "Don't you see I would know if she was dead, I would feel it and I don't."

"Jason look, she's right there," Johnny pointed to her.

Jason turned and focused on the body again, and this time he noticed some changes, and the more he studied her, the more relieved he felt. "It's not her."

"What?" Johnny asked.

"It's not her."

"Jason I know you want to believe that she's okay but…"

"No, listen to me Johnny," he crouched by the body. "Whoever this girl is she is not Elizabeth. This girl has a tattoo," he brushed the hair from her left shoulder exposing a tip of a tattoo, that must have continued on her back. "Elizabeth doesn't have a tattoo."

"She could have gotten one after you left town."

"No she wouldn't have, she doesn't like needles or pain," he explained. "She got a splinter once and had to use a needle to get it out, she couldn't do it I had to do it, she would never get a tattoo."

Jason turned back to the body. "Also Emily said she has been losing weight, and although this girl is about the right height, she is heavier then Elizabeth especially across the bust," he pointed.

Now that Jason mentioned that Johnny noticed that discrepancy. Not that he went around checking her bust or anything but, the difference was apparent.

Finally Jason reached out to tip up her head.

"Wait," Johnny crouched on the other side of the body. "I have gloves on. Her face is damaged her features are unclear, there is nothing to see, we can't tell from her face."

"I know," Jason spoke quietly. He didn't want to disturb the girl, although this wasn't Elizabeth, she was still an innocent girl who had died violently. He wanted to be respectful of her privacy in death, but he knew Johnny wasn't convinced yet, and there was one more possibility to convince him. "Pry open one of her eyes."

"Jason," Johnny shook his head.

"Please."

Johnny sighed and did as he requested, it was harder then it looked. Normally after death, the eyelids opened automatically, but the heavy damage and blood around the eyes, had matted them closed.

"What color are they?" Jason asked.

"Green," Johnny answered then quickly lowered the head again. "Elizabeth's are brown, sometimes blue."

"But never green," Jason finished for him.

"Sonofabitch," Johnny mumbled.

"Lucky," Jason all but snarled the name.

"What?" Johnny looked up and saw Jason's attention was focused on the wall behind the body and he turned to look too. "That's just sick." Was all he could say. The wall around the body had photos of Elizabeth as well, but these were different then the others. They were photos of her and her bruises, of the wounds on her skin. Lucky had documented his beatings with a camera. He didn't even try to stop Jason when he reached out and pulled one from the wall.

"One way or the other Lucky doesn't walk away from this, neither does Helena," Jason kept his eyes trained on the photo. "If something happens to me, you'll finish it right?" He looked up at Johnny then.

"I promise."

Jason nodded and carefully put the photo in his back pocket. "Do you hear that?"

Johnny frowned and listened as well, he could hear the faint sounds of a phone ringing. He followed Jason to the door, then jumped to the grass and began to search the ground for the ringing phone.

"Found it," Jason said the same time it stopped ringing. "It's Elizabeth's," he remembered her face when she got the phone. She'd had joked saying she was important now, because she needed a cell phone, she liked to take it with her everywhere.

"Check the last number dialed, maybe it will give us a lead," Johnny said picking up the lock Jason had shot off and the chain. Since Jason had touched them it was better just to take it with them.

Jason hit some numbers. "Shit," he muttered when he recognized the number.

~Cottage~

Taggert walked blindly out into the sun, but he didn't even notice.

"Lieutenant," one of the ambulance attendants' called to him.

Taggert looked over and then forced his feet to move towards the ambulance. "What."

"He's semi-conscious and asking for you," he jerked a thumb at Nikolas.

"Nikolas," Taggert moved closer, he could see the grief in Nikolas' eyes. He had never even considered that Nikolas might have been the one who shot her, but if he had, the loss he saw in the other man's eyes would have convinced him he was wrong. "Who did this?"

"Lucky," he choked out his brother's name. "It was Lucky," and then he was out again.

Stunned and trying to process that revelation Taggert moved slowly back over to his car where Garcia was talking on the radio.

"Can you say that again Whitey?" Garcia asked.

"We found some interesting things," Whitey's voice came over the staticky radio. "I got a match on those prints I took from Audrey Hardy's house. Seems the same print was lifted from a homicide last night. Looks like the same perp that did Audrey did Calvert Rogers as well."

Garcia kept a close eye on Taggert but so far he had no reaction to Whitey's words.

"The funny thing is those prints match a dead guy."

"What?"

"The prints I pulled off the wall on Audrey Hardy, and Hertz pulled off a dented trunk lid, both match a Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, who according to the computer died in April 1999."

"Lucky?" Garcia repeated in surprise, but Taggert just nodded.

"Also the bullet we retrieved from Audrey Hardy, the grooves on it matched grooves on a bullet from a shooting in 1998. We don't have the gun, but we know who it was registered to, it was Calvert Rogers again."

"What was the serial number?" Taggert asked Garcia and picked up the .38 that was still in the bag.

"Whitey what was the serial number on the gun?"

"187654."

Taggert nodded. "It matches."

"Are you saying Lucky killed Calvert, shot Audrey, and then ended up here?" Garcia asked.

"Where he killed Gia and injured his brother," Taggert finished for him. "Yes that's what I'm saying.

"There's more, we got a call from the hospital. Audrey named her shooter," Whitey spoke again. "Again it was the dead guy Spencer."

Taggert reached over and took the radio from Garcia, he flicked to a new frequency and called Dispatch. "Lily I need you to put out an APB on one Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, you will find all pertinent details on him, in a file under the Ted Wilson homicide. He is wanted for the attempted murder of Audrey Hardy, Nikolas Cassadine, and the murders of Calvert Rogers, and Gia… Gia Campbell. He's considered to be armed and dangerous, so tell them not to take any chances, if necessary shoot first."

When he finished the order he dropped the radio and moved away from the car to look at the woods beyond the house.

"You'll always be my big brother right? Because you always take care of me and I don't want to lose you."

"I will take care of you Gia, I will avenge you." Taggert vowed.