Nikolas blinked a few times as he woke up. Glancing at the clock in the corner, he figured that they had been alone in the room for over four hours. Elizabeth was sleeping next to him, her head resting on his broad shoulders. The soft rise and fall of her chest signaled that she was breathing well, and he hadn't heard her cry out from pain in at least a half-hour.

Shifting slightly, he leaned his head against hers. She mumbled something in her sleep as he moved his hand up and down her bare arm. She breathed a content sigh of relief without waking up. "Oh, Elizabeth," he murmured.

"Nikolas?" she asked sleepily, peering up at him with doe eyes. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Not that long," he assured her. "You should probably get as much rest as you can. It seems to be helping the baby."

Elizabeth hadn't even realized that the pain had subsided until that moment. She splayed her hands over her rounded stomach and rubbed it reassuringly. "Yeah, I feel better," she admitted. "I can't believe I actually fell asleep."

"There's nothing else to do," Nikolas pointed out as he leaned back against the wall.

"We could sing a song," she ventured. "When I was little, Sarah and I used to sing songs to pass time on long drives. It used to drive Steven crazy."

"Well, what do you propose we sing?"

She thought for a moment, scanning her mental play list. "Bye Bye Blackbird. Do you know it? It's by Joe Cocker?"

He smiled. "How could I not? It's one of your favorites."

"You remembered," she grinned before they started to hum the song happily. As they started into the second verse, Elizabeth felt a light flutter in her womb. "Oh, my," she giggled.

"What?" Nikolas asked as he stopped singing. "Are you okay? Is it the baby?"

"I'm fine," she mused. "The baby's kicking. She must like the music."

"She? It's a girl?"

"I don't know actually," she admitted. "I don't even know why I said that. I guess I just keep thinking that she's a girl."

"I bet she'll look just like you. Absolutely beautiful like her mother," Nikolas complimented.

She blushed a deep crimson momentarily before remembering who she was with. This was only Nikolas. "Do you want to feel?"

He nodded anxiously as she took his hand and laid it gently over her abdomen. Moving together in a circular motion, she felt the familiar drumming against her skin. Nikolas looked at her in amazement, his eyes wide with happiness. "It's the first time I've felt her kick," she revealed. "I've been waiting for it for the last month. It was my favorite part of being pregnant with Cameron. It was something that was just ours."

"Well, I'm glad I could be here with you to witness this," he told her. "It should probably be Lucky, but if he can't be here, I hope I'm the next best thing."

"You're the first best thing, Nikolas," she said. "You know, you're the one person in my life who has never let me down. Even when Lucky and I weren't together or you and Emily couldn't stand to be in the same room, we stayed friends. I don't know how that happens."

"We never had expectations for each other," he answered. "We were just friends because we chose to be. I was able to accept you for who you were without any precursors. You didn't care that I was a prince. I remember how shocked I was to find a girl who wasn't even a little impressed by it. You used to tease Sarah when she would daydream about becoming a princess."

"I guess I never saw you that way," she said. "I didn't care that you had this useless title. It didn't mean anything to me. What I cared about was how you treated me, and you were one of the few people who actually treated me with respect. Eventually, I was able to see past the rigid politeness and see this soft caretaker."

"You know I was scared of you when I first met you?" he confessed. "You were this bad girl, with your cigarettes and wild hair. You were a horrible waitress who couldn't stand authority and loved to sneak out."

"Ah, the good old days of Lizzie," she laughed. "That seems like a million years ago. Kind of like the days when I wanted to be a starving artist in the big city."

"And now, you're an amazing nurse and an even more amazing mother," he retorted.

"And you're…you," she taunted.

"Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor," he teased back, elbowing her lightly in the ribs.

"It's all I have left, Prince Nikolas."

"Hey!" he protested, pulling on strand of hair that had escaped from her topknot. She reached up to brush his hand away but his fingers quickly caught hers. Elizabeth looked at Nikolas but quickly glanced away. When she realized that he still hadn't let go of her, she glanced back at him. He held her gaze for a moment before dropping her hand heavily. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."

"It's not what I did," he sighed as he turned his back to her. "It's how I felt."

"Let's see, who will I choose next?" One asked, standing in the middle of the room. Spinning in a circle, he held out his gun until it stopped on Emily. "Ah, yes, my favorite doctor. On your feet."

Emily stood up and stared at the man. He came over and brushed her hair away with the cool metal of the gun. "I'm going to release the doctor."

"You are," she stated, a questioning and skeptical tone evident.

"I am," he replied. "I'm going to agree to send her out in exchange for someone on the outside. I'm going to call Lansing and get a list of three names. You are going to select one of those people to replace her."

"I can't," she said.

"You can and you will," he shot back automatically. Whipping the phone off the counter, he hit redial and waited for it to connect. "Hello, Lansing. I need a list of three names outside. Don't hesitate, just give me the first three people you see."

Ric looked around until his eyes rested on a group of three people. "Patrick Drake, Lucky Spencer and Dillon Quartermaine."

"Hold on," One ordered, covering the mouthpiece. "Okay, Emily, you're choices are Patrick Drake, Lucky Spencer and Dillon Quartermaine. You have ten seconds to choose."

Emily thought for a moment. She knew that Patrick would need to go with Robin, and Dillon was still only a kid. Lucky was the only choice. As she looked at Lulu, she pleaded for the blonde to forgive her. "Lucky."

"Wise choice," he announced before returning to the call. "I'm going to lay Robin outside the door in exchange for Lucky. You have two minutes to decide. If you do not call back by then, I will shoot her."

Ric handed the phone to Mac before grabbing Lucky. "The gunman has agreed to exchange Robin for you. I have two minutes or she is going to die."

Lucky didn't even need to think. There was no way he was going to let her die. "Alright, I'll go," he decided. "Make the call." He watched as the district attorney went back to place the call to the gunman. He turned to Dillon and Patrick to give them both directions. "I'm risking my life for Robin, Drake, so you better make sure she lives."

Patrick nodded, all words escaping him. There was no way to thank the policeman for what he was doing. "Thanks."

Lucky simply shrugged before looking at Dillon. "I'm going to get her out, Dillon," he vowed. "I need you to tell my dad that I'm going inside. He'll know what else to do. Tell Monica that I'm going to take care of Emily, and call Bobbie to check on Cam." He took a deep breath as he started to shake with fear. "If something goes wrong and we don't make it out, make sure that Audrey takes care of Cameron."

"I'll take care of everything," Dillon retorted. "Can you tell Lulu that I…?"

"I'll make sure you can tell her yourself," Lucky concluded before heading toward the door. With one look back, he banged on the door before disappearing inside. Patrick waited behind the yellow tape. The door slid open again just enough for Lulu and Emily to deposit a very fragile Robin onto the pavement.

Inside the hotel, Lucky scanned the room and noted that his brother and Elizabeth were missing. The gunman, who quickly introduced himself as One with a British accent, ordered Emily and Lucky to sit down. Lulu was sent to watch over Alan in the other room.

Lucky sank to the floor beside Emily, looking around to see who else was in the room. He noted that Max was posted by the door and that Sonny was huddled next to Carly a few feet away. If things could go the right way, there could be enough manpower to overtake them.

As One went over to check on something, Emily looked over at Lucky. He reached down and took her hand, squeezing it. She smiled at him with wet eyes. "It's okay," he said.

"I'm sorry I chose you."

"You know that I wouldn't want it any other way," he reminded her. "Em, I don't want you to be in here alone. Where are Nik and Liz?"

"He sent them to another room when she started making too much noise," she answered.

Lucky grimaced with anger but tried to push it away. He needed to focus on the person with him right now. If she saw fear in his eyes, it might scare her even more. "I'm sure they're fine," he tried. "I told Dillon to call Monica to let her know that I'm with you. I thought it might help."

"Alright, we're going to play musical spares again," One called out as he returned to the middle of the room. "I've decided to trade the pregnant nurse and the dark prince for the brave doctor and the cop."

"That's Emily and Nikolas," Emily murmured as she stood up. Lucky grabbed her hand as they were led out of the room. Two, one of the quieter of the gunmen, pressed them against the wall as One led Nikolas and Elizabeth past. Nikolas gaped at his brother in shock as he helped Liz through the narrow corridor. They both seemed to look like they were okay.

A minute later, Two slammed the door and locked them inside. Emily threw herself the bare floor in the corner and finally allowed the tears to come while Lucky looked around the room. There was no way to escape. Resolved to his temporary fate, he dropped next to her. "C'mon, Em," he murmured as he drew her into his embrace. "There can't be any of those."

Emily turned her face and buried it into the soft knit of his black sweater. His silver badge was still pinned near the collar. She reached up and traced the silver metal, her fingers brushing over his name. "I still can't believe you're a detective."

He grinned. "Hey, I've always been resourceful. Remember that time when we ran away? There was a rattlesnake in the cave. I helped us survive that, just like I am going to help us survive this."

"There's nothing you can do."

"There has to be."

She looked at him and smiled sadly. "Well, maybe there is one thing you can do."

"What's that?"

"You can hold me," she whispered. "It might help me feel safe."

Outside, Dillon watched as Patrick Drake and a team of paramedics loaded Robin's body into an ambulance. As soon as they were gone, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed his mother. He quickly explained the situation, asking her to pass on the message to Monica. After hanging up, he called the other person on his list.

"What do you want?" Luke demanded on the other end of the line.

"Look, I don't have a lot of time," Dillon spat angrily. "Lucky just went inside. He traded places with Robin."

"He what?"

"They agreed to send Robin out if Lucky would go in," Dillon explained quickly. "He agreed. He wanted me to call you and said that you would know what to do."

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose as he pulled his car up to the scene. Throwing the car door open, he spotted Dillon and hung up. "Dillon!"

"Luke!"

The two came bounding toward each other. "Lucky's right, I know what to do. I'm going in after them, and I need your help."

"I'll do what I can."

"You're going in," Luke said as he pulled a small handgun from his pocket. "Morgan is waiting around back. He has a plan. The three of us are going to do this as a team. You're going to listen to whatever he says."

Dillon nodded and followed Luke to the back of the hotel to where Jason was waiting. He handed Dillon a gun and quickly filled the two men in on his plan. Spinelli would guide them from the outside.

Jason turned to his cousin and looked at him seriously. "Are you sure you can do this? We're counting on you."

"Lulu is in there," he said simply. "There's nothing else you need to know."