"Well, isn't that sweet," One said wryly as he strutted into the room where Emily and Lucky were still being held captive. Lucky had his arms around Emily, who was curled up next to him. His coat lay over her bare legs like a blanket. One grinned at the woman lewdly before wagging his eyebrows at the policeman.

Lucky instinctively positioned himself in front of her, using his body to shield her from the gunman. "What do you want with us now?"

"Nothing," he answered. "I just came in here to make sure that you two were behaving yourselves. The pregnant woman's life depends on it."

Emily glared at him. "We understand," she said bluntly.

"I don't think I like your tone," One decided, stepping toward them. Emily winced as she watched him press the barrel of the gun to Lucky's forehead. "Maybe you should apologize."

"Sorry," she retorted inaudibly.

"Louder."

"I'm sorry," she muttered, clasping her hands tightly in her lap to suppress her anger.

"That's better. I'll be back," he warned as he opened the door. Looking at the couple huddled together on the floor, he decided to prod them. "Look at it this way, Doctor Emily. Maybe something will happen between you and the cop here. Maybe I could be best man at the wedding."

"Shut the hell up," Lucky demanded through gritted teeth.

"Oh, nasty," One taunted before slamming the door. "I think I just warned you about that. Now, I'm going to have to show you the repercussions of not doing what you're told. Doctor Emily, he will be right back. In the mean time, you hang tight and stay quiet. If you make any noise, Officer Spencer won't return."

Grabbing Lucky by the collar, One dragged the cop into the hallway. Emily was startled to hear a few loud whacks before a heavy thud of a body hitting the ground. She could hear Lucky cry out one time followed by another series of sounds. The beating went on for a few more minutes before one of the gunmen pushed the door open and kicked Lucky's almost lifeless body back in the room. As the door closed again, Emily crawled across the floor. "Lucky."

"A-are you ok-kay?" he managed, his face already swelling. Emily reached down and caressed his cheek lovingly. Even in this state, his first instinct was to check on her.

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Let's get you over here. Do you think you can sit up?" Lucky nodded and slowly drew his bottom to a sitting position. She helped him scoot across the floor and back toward their favorite corner. Grabbing a handkerchief from his pocket, she gently patted blood off his face. "Does that hurt?"

"No, it's helping," he answered.

"Good. Where is the pain?"

"My ribs."

"They're probably broken. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do," she said. "Lucky, you can't do that again. You have to just let him say whatever he is going to say."

"I couldn't stand to hear him talk to you like that. I'd rather die that listen to him disrespect you right in front of me."

"If you die, you're going to leave me alone with him," she pointed out. "You can't do that to me. I need you stay with me." Lucky's eyes fluttered closed as a sharp pain pressed against his chest. He moaned as he adjusted himself. "Maybe you should lie down."

"It's okay. I'll be okay," he lied. Emily knew instantly that he was trying to put up a strong front.

"Come on, Spencer, don't argue with me," she implored as she helped him turn sideways. Pulling him down so that his head was resting in her lap, she laid his blanket across his legs. Stroking his hair, she smiled down at him and tried to do her best to clean him up.

"Spencer," he repeated. "It's been a long time since you called me that, Quartermaine."

"It just comes naturally, kind of like your need to protect me."

"We've known each other a long time, Em."

"That we have."

"Have you ever thought-?" he began. "Never mind."

"No, what? You have to tell me."

"Have you ever thought about what it would have been like if we ended up together?"

Emily gazed down at him and nodded. "Of course."

"We almost had a chance a couple years ago, didn't we?"

"Well, we both definitely felt something," she agreed. "But we never really acted on it. I was still reeling from the rape and dealing with Nikolas' relationship with Courtney. You were mourning a loss of your own. I guess our timing wasn't right."

"There was another time when I thought something might happen," he revealed. "It was right before Zander kidnapped you. I had just come back not too long before, and I felt guilty for not paying more attention when you went through such a hard time."

"I never knew that," she smiled. "I thought you were still so hung up on Elizabeth that there was no way you could see me."

Lucky shook his head. "I've always seen you, Em."

Dillon followed Jason into the stairwell. The two men exchanged a look before Luke popped the ceiling tile off. Hoisting himself up into the ventilation system, Jason nodded before disappearing to look over the lobby. He would go check out the situation and report back. In the mean time, Spinelli was giving Luke various routes throughout the hotel.

Jason hunched over and made his way through the tight confines of the vent. Turning a corner, he could hear a British accent making demands as he drew nearer to the lobby. Stopping a few feet short, he listened as the man taunted someone on the hotel staff. Carly tried to defend them, but Sonny quickly quieted her. Glad that someone was down there to help keep his best friend calm, he glanced around the lobby. He could see Carly, Sonny, Liz and Nikolas. A moment later, Lulu was escorted back in and deposited next to Carly. Putting her arm protectively around her cousin, Carly jeered at the man. "Good for you," Jason thought to himself, proud of her for not backing down.

He counted the number of hostages and the number of gunmen. He checked to see if anyone else was hurt and then turned back to find his partners again. By the time he jumped back out of the vent, Dillon's nerves were shot and Luke was rearing to go.

"Well, what'd you see?" Luke asked.

"There are around twenty hostages in the lobby. I know that a few of them are stashed in other rooms," Jason explained. "I saw five gunmen, and it sounded like there was another locked in the vault with Maxie Jones."

"How's Lulu?" Dillon asked.

"She looked okay. When I left, she was with Sonny and Carly. They won't let anything happen to her."

"What about Lucky?"

Jason shook his head. "I didn't see him or Emily. Nikolas and Liz were in the lobby."

"One step at a time," Luke reminded himself. His first priority was to get Lulu out and then he'd find his son.

Dillon seemed to read his mind. "I'll get Lulu, Luke. You take Elizabeth. You know that Lucky would want her to get out of there along with Nikolas."

Luke nodded, too tired to argue with the young man. He knew that Dillon would lay his life on the line for Lulu, and Liz was pregnant with his grandchild. It was what Lucky would want. "Are we ready to go?"

Jason and Dillon nodded as Luke explained the possible routes. Jason assigned them each one and then handed Dillon a gun. "You do whatever you have to do," he ordered him firmly. "If someone threatens you, you shoot and keep shooting until you're safe. Turn around and try to get out as quickly as you can."

Dillon nodded, knowing that he would ignore his cousin's orders if he didn't have Lulu with him. He wasn't about to leave the hotel without her, especially not that he had come that far.

Luke patted him on the shoulder knowingly. "Good luck."

Dillon grinned as adrenaline pulsated through his veins. "I'll see you on the other side."

"We have a female patient, 27, with weak vitals," the paramedics announced as they rolled the gurney through the emergency doors at General Hospital. Patrick Drake jogged next to them, never letting go of Robin's hands. She was still unresponsive, not gaining consciousness since they had retrieved her from the sidewalk.

"Dr. Scorpio!" Epiphany exclaimed as she came running up. She listened as the emergency team rattled off a list of numbers before notating them on a new chart. Trying to focus, she suddenly remembered the doctor's health status. Looking up at Patrick, she also knew that she needed to find another doctor quickly. Looking at a nurse, she ordered her to page Noah Drake.

"I'm going to do the surgery," Patrick stated.

"You can't," Epiphany argued. "You're too attached. It'd be a conflict of interest."

"What do we have?" Noah asked as he arrived. Epiphany handed him a set of gloves and pulled a mask over his mouth while she explained the situation. Patrick filled in the holes anxiously, urging everyone to hurry.

Following the bed down the hallway toward the operating room, Patrick watched helplessly as they transferred Robin onto a new gurney. Noah turned to his son and patted his shoulder compassionately. "I'll bring her back to you."

Nodding through his tears, he reached over and hugged his father briefly. "Please, take care of her," he implored before leaning over Robin's bed. She was starting to regain consciousness, her timing as bad as always. Managing a brave smile, he leaned down and kissed her eyelid. "I'll be right here waiting."

Elizabeth sat restlessly in the lobby, looking around the room at the familiar faces. She could see Sonny with his arm around Carly, holding near to his small body. There was Max next to Sam, speaking softly to her in reassuring tones. Father Ruiz was near the doorway, and Lulu had just been brought back out. One pushed her toward Nikolas, who quickly pulled her down beside him.

"How's Alan?" she whispered, leaning across Nikolas to question her sister-in-law.

"I don't know, I couldn't really tell," Lulu said. "He was having trouble breathing, but I gave him an aspirin to chew up. I didn't know what else to do."

"I'm sure you did fine, honey," Liz replied, reaching over to cover the girl's hand. Nikolas put his arm across Elizabeth's back supportively, rubbing down her spine gently. She shivered under his touch, thankful to still have a connection to anyone in the room.

"Lu, there's something I have to tell you," Nikolas murmured, looking up at the gunmen to make sure that he wasn't being watched. "I heard that they exchanged Robin for someone on the outside. When they brought Liz and me out of there, we passed Emily and Lucky. He's in here now."

"Did he volunteer himself?" Lulu inquired. "He'd be the first one to tell me to not be a hero. Why did he have to do this?"

"Emily was given a few options," Nikolas said. "I think the other two were Patrick and Dillon. Lucky was really her only choice."

Dillon. "Oh," she muttered, not really sure what else to say.

Just then, she heard a rustling sound overhead. Looking at Nikolas, she realized that he must have heard it as well. She glanced at the ceiling before drawing her eyes downward again. If she stared too long, One and the others would become suspicious. As it continued, she looked around the room. No one was watching them at the moment so she looked up again. A familiar pair of blue eyes caught hers for a moment before moving on.

Not daring to reveal what she had just seen, she closed her eyes and prayed that Jason wasn't alone. As strong as the mobster was, it was going to take a hell of a lot more than him to save everyone. "Please let this work," she thought to herself, clasping her hands tightly together. As she did, she caught sight of a small scar on her hand. Lifting her palm toward her face, she remembered cutting herself in the boathouse the night Tracy had caught her with Dillon. He had kissed her skin tenderly to make her feel better. It had worked. She pressed her hand to her lips, trying to recapture the moment. In that hotel lobby, surrounded by people, she felt like she had nothing but memories to keep her alive.

"Ow," Elizabeth muttered, her hand immediately flying to cover her stomach. "That was a sharp one."

"Here, let me," Nikolas murmured, reaching down to massage her abdomen. Lulu watched curiously, slightly taken aback by the intimate gesture. Something was different.

"I don't remember saying that either of you could talk," One sneered as he came toward the trio. "You have been nothing but trouble, Baby's Breath."

"It's my fault," Nikolas volunteered.

"My, my, aren't we chivalrous? First the doctor and now the nurse," One taunted. "You must have a thing for brunettes. Or is it those in the medical profession?" Nikolas remained silent, much to One's chagrin. "Why don't you kiss her? You really seem to like her."

"I don't think so."

"Oh, no, I think you misunderstood. It doesn't require you to think, only to do."

"I won't."

"You will," he spat, grabbing Lulu by the hand and yanking her in what has become a familiar position, the gun pushed against her throat, "or she dies."

"It's okay," Elizabeth stated plainly. "Just kiss me."

Nikolas turned and brushed his lips against hers chastely. "Now, is that any way to kiss a woman?" One asked, his eyebrow raised. "Try again." Elizabeth took the lead this time, placing her left hand on his cheek. She drew his face into hers, laying a gentle but closemouthed kiss on his lips. "Better but not quite."

"Would you stop it?" Lulu pleaded.

"I think you're the one who should stop," he warned. "Now, as I said, Prince kiss Baby's Breath here. We're all bored and could enjoy a good show."

"Fine," Nikolas relented with hostility. "You want a show? You've got a show!" Looking apologetically at Elizabeth, he grabbed her face fiercely and went in to kiss her. Pressing her back against the wall, he hungrily devoured her lips until they were swollen. After a minute, he pulled away and looked up at One. "Are you satisfied?"

"Not as much as you," he laughed before letting go of Lulu.

"I'm sorry," Nikolas apologized as soon as One had walked away. He took Elizabeth's hand and squeezed it. "I am sorry that you had to be put through that."

"There's a lot worse in this world than have to kiss a prince, Nikolas," Elizabeth pointed out, smiling slightly to show him that she really was fine. "Especially one as kind and gentle as you. If I had known you were such a great kisser, I would have done it years ago."

He couldn't believe it when he found himself chuckling softly. "Well, I can honestly say there is no one else in this room I'd rather kiss."

Not letting go of his hand, Elizabeth moved closer to rest her head on his shoulder. "Just don't get any crazy ideas and try to protect me again. The baby and I need you to stay here with us. We're kind of depending on you."

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "I already told you, I'm here with you."