Chapter 23 – "A Better Man"

Milos was covered by both Nikolas and Lucky while Luke was barely even blinking at the risk of Helena getting away.

"So where are we now?" Helena asked, looking around the room at her captors. "We seem to be at an impasse."

"No, no," Luke teased her. "This is the end of the road, Foxy Lady. There is no where else for you to go. No impasse. Endgame. Do not collect $200, do not pass Go, go directly to hell."

Helena now turned her attention to Lucky, who was carefully gauging her reactions. She latched on to his gaze, and they stared eye to eye for some time. In the silence that reigned while they stood off, Lucky let his gun arm fall to his side, though he never moved his finger from the trigger.

"So you plan to kill me then?" she asked quietly, as if only Lucky could hear her. "You have turned out to be just like your father, Lucky. Heartless, bloodthirsty and rash."

"Takes one to know one," Luke quipped off to the side.

But Lucky's features were starting to soften. It didn't matter to him that her motives were utterly skewed. He knew she was least partly right. He wasn't these things she was accusing him of. He laid down his weapon on the nearest table. "No,' he contradicted her. "No, I'm not."

Luke stared at his son in disbelief but it was Laura who bolted forward. She snatched the gun off the table and pointed it directly into Helena's chest. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were practically flaming.

"You have succeeded in taking my life away, bit by bit, piece by piece. You've stolen my time, my dignity and my sons." Though her hand was still shaking, her voice was as still and strong as if she were speaking to a child who had misbehaved. "I will not let you take one more second from my life, or my sons' lives, or anyone else's."

Both Luke and Stefan eased towards her, attempting to calm her, but she barely saw them. She had tunnel vision and all she could see was Helena's face and her sparkling, mocking eyes. It was Lucky's voice that finally broke through her furious haze.

"Mom."

Laura blinked away the smirking vision before her eyes and turned to see her son, her joy and light. He was holding out his hand to her and in his eyes was a plaintive request: give up the gun. The raging desire for revenge was still strong in her, but her son's immobile and steadfast presence held her back.

"Please, Mom. She's not worth it, I promise."

This was enough to break through to her. She rubbed away the tears that were blinding her and the gun fell to her side. "You're right, Lucky," she said. Her whole body relaxed and she sighed. "You're right."

For a few moments, it was as if time had stopped. Silence reigned as Lucky moved to take the gun back from his mother. The entire room seemed to relax, as if someone had opened the windows and let out all the stale air. Finally, Lucky took hold of the gun and set the safety, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Stupid girl," Helena cackled. She couldn't seem to keep from laughing. "You really are a silly, stupid girl. You were never good enough to be a Cassadine...or a Spencer for that matter."

"My dear woman," Luke said, "You wouldn't know what it takes to be a Spencer if it bit you in the ass."

"Indeed," Helena sneered. In a quick motion, she drew a small silver gun from a hidden pocket in her designer jacket. Behind her, Milos was taking a similar action. Nikolas had relieved him of his sidearm, but he produced a slim switchblade from his sleeve. He had the edge at Nikolas' throat in an instant.

No one moved. Milos had Nikolas immobilized and Helena had both Laura and Lucky in her sights while Luke and Stefan each had a weapon aimed at her head.

"Now this would be an impasse, darling Luke," Helena said, calmly. "Now there are two ways out of our little standoff. The best solution would be that I'll leave and you'll let me. No one gets hurt."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Madame Maleficent," Luke answered. "You see, if I let you go, you'll just come back again, like an atomic termite. And I can't have that."

"I'm afraid you'll have to. You don't have another choice."

Luke shook his head. "There's another choice. I may not be able to think of it right now, but give me a few minutes. None of us is going anywhere."

While he was thinking, Lucky was trying to catch his brother's eye. When he finally got Nikolas' attention, he communicated his suggestion as simply as possible. A look only, but a look that Nikolas understood very well. He shook his head an infinitesimal amount, acutely aware of the blade waiting so close to his skin. When Lucky silently insisted, Nikolas dared to mouth the word, "No" to his brother.

Lucky's eyes and expression softened and he smiled, if only a little bit, as if to say, "What other choice do we have?"

Nikolas glanced over the room at Luke and Stefan's rigid stances and Laura, weaponless and in Helena's sights, and knew Lucky was right. He waited until he was sure no one was watching him. Milos maintained a hard grip, but his eyes were fixed on his silver-haired mistress. He signaled one last to Lucky, the slightest of all possible nods and then sprung into action. He twisted out of Milos' grip and wrenched the knife out of his hand. In the confusion that followed, two shots were fired and three bodies fell.

The instant he saw Nikolas move, Lucky had forced his mother to the ground and shielded her body with his own. Helena had reacted to his movement just as quickly and fired in panic. Her shot connected with Lucky's shoulder.

It was the second shot that brought the action to a freeze. For a moment, Luke, Laura, and Nikolas watched Helena in a stunned silence. Helena herself seemed stricken as she slowly turned on her heel, holding the new wound in her chest. She turned to face Stefan, who had yet to lower his arm. He seemed as stunned by his action as anyone else.

Blood began to seep and soak Helena's cream colored suit. "Son?" she managed to whisper as she slowly sank to the floor.

"Not anymore, Mother," Stefan said. "No more. It's done."

The last few moments of Helena's life were spent in her son's eyes, wondering just when he became strong enough to defy her.

"Cowboy?" Luke knelt to where Lucky was slowly pulling himself up. "Are you okay?"

Lucky almost had to laugh. "It's nothing," he assured his father. "I've been much worse than this before. Are you okay, Mom?"

Laura didn't answer, but pulled him close to her. With her other hand she dragged Luke into their embrace.

Before anyone could speak, there was a crash at the door and Lt. Taggert barreled into the room, tailed by a handful of PCPD foot soldiers.

"Relax, Hopalong," Luke said. "You're a little late to the party, as usual. I'm afraid our guest of honor has checked out." Taggert was too busy staring at Lucky in disbelief to hear Luke's quip. "Be surprised later, Taggert, there's more to do now."

This jab Taggert did hear. His eyes drifted from Helena's fallen body and the small silver gun by her hand to the weapons in Luke and Stefan's hands then back to Lucky and the growing bloodstain across his clothes. "I'm going to take a blind guess and say 'self-defense'," he said.

"Good guess," Luke answered.

Taggert turned to his officers, asking one to notify the paramedics and the others to cuff and arrest Milos. He then extended a hand to Lucky and helped him to his feet.

"I'm so happy to see you, I'm going to pretend I didn't see the two unconscious men tied to the staircase."

Lucky shot an ironic smile at Nikolas and said, "I'm sure I haven't got a clue what you're talking about."

"You'll be glad to know your two little lookouts are perfectly safe," Taggert told him, filling him in on the situation he had found in Sonny's warehouse with Elizabeth and Emily. "That was a large risk you took getting them involved."

"Well, if you could have managed to talk them out of it, you're a more persuasive man than I am," Lucky joked.

Outside, while the paramedics attended to his wound as best they could, Lucky attempted to answer all the questions Taggert was throwing at him. The detective, in his turn, could only shake his head at the unbelievability, the sheer lunacy of it all; kidnapped, held hostage, midnight escapes (on water, no less), hideouts, revenge. It was like something out of a pulp crime novel.

"Lucky? Lucky!" Elizabeth ran to him, ignoring and barging past all those who attempted to hold her back. She threw her arms around him and though a sharp pain hit him and he couldn't stop from wincing, he brought his arms around her and held her closer.

"Oh god, you're bleeding," she cried when she finally broke away.

"I'm fine," he protested. "I'm perfect. Are you okay? And Emily?"

"We're fine," she assured him. "You know Sonny wouldn't have let anything happen to us." She looked over Lucky's shoulder to try and make inventory of the rest of the cast of characters in their absurd little drama. "Is everyone else okay? Is anyone else hurt?"

"Helena's dead." His voice was shallow and quiet and his eyes downcast.

"Who?" Elizabeth asked, trying her best not to appear jubilant.

"Stefan."

This wasn't quite what she expected to hear. In fact, it was the last name she expected to hear except Lucky's own.

"I'll explain it all, I promise," Lucky told her. "Just give me time."

"I can give you all the time in the world," Elizabeth said.

"I'm going to hold you to that."

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A/N: One more chapter to go!