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Earthbound Angels

(February 15, 2000-Port Charles, New York- 3:20 A.M.)

"Elizabeth, it's me."

Elizabeth stood back from the window, shaking. She brought her hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, what she was hearing. It couldn't possibly be true. But...he was so real. She stepped forward, reached out to touch the cold, hard glass.

"No, it can't be," she whispered. "You're gone. This is just a dream."

Lucky put his hand to the glass to meet her fingers. "No, Elizabeth, this is not a dream. It's real, I'm real. Please let me in."

"It can't be," she repeated, but she pushed open the window nonetheless. She stepped back as Lucky pulled himself into her room. "How is this...how are youâ€this has to be a dream."

Lucky carefully drew his arms around her, pulled her into his embrace. "I promise you this is real. Don't I feel real?" he asked her.

She held tight to his arms, looked in his face. He was her Lucky, but changed. His hair was longer than she remembered, and a little lighter, as if he'd been out in the sun. His eyes were dark, liquid pools of blue. He seemed stronger somehow. His presence was more powerful.

"You do," she answered him. "But you can't be. Lucky, you're dead. There was a fire, you...you died. Your parents saw your body. You had a funeral, you have a grave. You can't be here."

Lucky took her hands. "It was fake," he said in an uncompromising voice. "It was all fake, it was all a set up. I wasn't anywhere near the motorcycle shop when it burned."

Still not convinced her unconscious wasn't playing a cruel joke on her, Elizabeth asked, "But how...who?"

"Helena Cassadine," he answered her.

"What?"

"Helena nabbed me to use as bait for my father. And when that didn't work, I think" he cut himself off suddenly, looking behind him as if he thought there was someone sneaking up behind him. "Elizabeth, this is a very long story, and we don't have a lot of time. I need to know if you're willing to come with me."

"Come with you where?" she asked.

"Anywhere away from here. She's probably already here looking for me. I have to leave, keep running." He surveyed her room quickly, mentally packing a getaway bag. "I know this is hard, but I'm afraid she'll come after you to get at me. That's why you have to come."

Still in shock, Elizabeth ran her fingers through her hair. "Gram. I have to tell Gram. And your parents. They have to know. And Nikolas...and Lesley Lu, they"

"Elizabeth, there isn't time," he interrupted her. "We can call everyone once we get on the way, but we don't have time for that now. Believe me, I wish it was different, but we don't have a choice."

"Okay," she finally said. "I'll go with you. Just lead, and anywhere you go, I will follow you."

Lucky immediately started throwing things into a bag, as she was still a little shaken. She was staring at him, as if she still didn't quite believe it, which he didn't blame her for at all. At last, she came up to him and placed her hands around his face. "I believe you're not a dream, but I'm still not sure you're not an angel."

He responded by wrapping his arms tightly around her, indulging in one quiet, unhurried moment. "You are the one who looks like an angel," he said. He brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes and made a move to kiss her, but stopped himself. "We need to go," he told her. He crawled out of the window, holding her bag. She went after him, taking one moment to look back into her room before finally turning away and following Lucky into the night.