"Just two more floors, Elizabeth," Nikolas announced, looking over his shoulder to check on the pregnant woman. She was a few steps behind him, her breath even after taking a short break a few stories ago.

Elizabeth stared at his back before stopping. "Nikolas, wait," she called out, resting her hands on her stomach. "I can't do this."

He turned around, clearly worried to see her stopped again. "What's wrong? Is it the baby? I can probably carry you if you need," he offered. "We just need to get out of here. You need to be checked out."

"I'm scared to leave," she whispered. "Everything has changed since I've been in here. I can't just go back to the way things were before."

Nikolas skipped up a few steps to where she stood, wrapping his arm around her. "I know that things are different. There are going to be ramifications, both immediate and eventual, that everyone is going to have to deal with. You can't think about that right now, though. You need to think about getting out of this hotel."

She looked at him carefully, trying to find the courage to say the one thing she felt like she still needed to say. "I can't just go back to being your friend," she admitted. "I know that's not fair to Lucky or Em or even you, but I can't. We've been through too much together tonight, Nik. I don't think I can just pretend that it's the same."

"I don't want you to pretend," he avowed softly. "I wish I had answers for you right now. I wish I could tell you that this was going to be easy and that no one was going to get hurt, but I can't do that. I can only promise that I'm not going to let you go through it alone."

"I need to tell you something, Nikolas. Before we get out of this hotel and everything gets even more chaotic, I have a confession to make," she began slowly. "This baby isn't Lucky's. It's Jason's."

"Elizabeth!"

"I know that I should have told everyone, especially after what you went through," she whimpered, tears spilling down her cherubic cheeks. "I was too afraid to tell the truth. I knew that it could send Lucky back to pills. And it puts my baby at risk because of Jason's lifestyle. But I can't lie anymore, not to Lucky, not to Jason and especially not to you. Please don't be angry."

"You did what you thought you needed to do as a parent. I understand that now," Nikolas said. "I'm a father, and I know that I would do anything to protect Spencer. You were just doing what you felt was best for the baby. It will be okay, Elizabeth, I promise. I'll find a way to make it okay for you."

"Can you do me a favor? Can you kiss me one last time before we leave here? I know that it may be the last kiss we ever share."

He reached up and stroked her curly tendrils. "Not if I can help it," he murmured as he caressed her mouth with his. It was a sweet kiss, a true kiss, filled with the anticipation of many years. After he pulled away, he looked into her kind green eyes. "Are you ready to get out of here now?"

She nodded confidently. "The baby needs to be checked, and I want to see my son."

"I can't wait to hold Spencer," he agreed as they started down the staircase again, this time holding hands. "It's almost a year old, can you believe it? I'm going to throw a huge birthday party for him at Wyndamere. It's going to be ridiculously over the top, but we have a lot to celebrate."

"I just want to go crawl in bed next to Cam and read his favorite book until he can't stand to hear it anymore," she told him. "I want to sit at the kitchen table with Grams, drinking tea and talking about life. I want to have Mike's hot apple pie at Kelly's."

"I want to go for a long ride on Sheba, to feel the morning air against my cheeks before the sun has even made its appearance," he dreamed. "I want to have a tea party with Kristina and Molly, to laugh until my ribs ache. I want to see Alexis freak out again."

"I want to see you drink a beer straight from the bottle," Elizabeth taunted as they stepped onto the landing of the final steps.

"That will never happen," he chuckled, gripping her hand tightly. They stopped abruptly on the other side of the staircase. "Are you ready? It's going to get crazy once we get out there, so you need to hold on to me. Don't let go until we're safe."

She searched his dark eyes and nodded. "I understand," she stated as he reached for the doorknob.

Wrapping his arm around her waist firmly, pulling his jacket around her petite body to shield her, they stepped out into the early dawn together. Their movements were as one as people swarmed near them, yelling demands and pulling them in different directions. Still, neither Nikolas nor Elizabeth let go until they were well on the other side of the yellow police tape. There, he helped a paramedic wrap a standard issue blanket around her body. They were sitting next to each other on a gurney when Nikolas spotted a flash of blonde coming toward him.

"Nikolas!" Lulu screamed, losing one of her heels as she ran across the pavement. Nikolas looked at Elizabeth before leaping up, catching his little sister in his embrace. They both started to weep as she buried her face in the starched collar of his white button-up shirt. "I didn't know if I would see you again."

"Of course you would," he reminded her. "There are already too many Spencers in this family. I'm the only Cassadine, you need me."

She giggled despite herself as she clung to him. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm just so happy to see you," she bubbled. "I already called Wyndamere. Spencer is doing fine."

"You checked on my son?" he asked proudly, touched that his sister would think of something like that. "Thanks, Lu."

"Cameron, too," she revealed. "I called Audrey. He's asleep and has no idea what has happened. She kept him away from the television."

"You should probably tell her," he replied, nodding toward where Elizabeth was still sitting. Dillon came up and joined them, his eyes glued to the blonde woman who was still holding onto her brother. She nodded obediently before going over to join Elizabeth, smiling over her shoulder as she made her way toward the ambulance. Once she was out of earshot, Nikolas turned to Dillon. "How is she doing? How did you get her out?"

"I took her through the ventilation system," he answered. "She seems fine, but she's afraid. She had this moment where she kind of froze, and I guess she felt like she was going inside herself. It really shook her up."

"Like Mom," Nikolas sighed. "Then what happened?"

"I just reminded her that I was going to take care of her. I would have given my life for her, Lulu. I risked everything to bring her out, and I'll do it every day for the rest of my life if I have to."

"Thank you for taking care of her, Dillon. I wasn't able to do it, especially with Elizabeth having contractions."

"I'm in love with your sister, Nikolas. There is nowhere else I belong."

"Elizabeth!" Lulu squealed as her former sister-in-law grinned. The pregnant woman stood up and hugged her tightly, thankful that they both had made it out. Now, only Lucky and Emily were missing. "How are you feeling?"

"I haven't had cramps in awhile," she explained. "I've already been checked out here, and everything looks good. Epiphany and some of the others set up a triage station, knowing that I was inside."

She smiled. "I'm so glad, Liz," she retorted. "I called your grandmother to check on Cameron. He's doing okay, sleeping peacefully. He doesn't know that anything has happened."

"Thank you," she grinned, relieved to know that Cam had no idea what she had been through. He was too young to understand, and he would have only been scared. What about Spencer?"

"He's fine, too. I spoke to Alfred just after Dillon and I got out," she said softly. "Look, I don't mean to be a downer, but have you seen Lucky or Emily? Are they okay?"

Elizabeth shook her head sadly. "We only saw them once when they were brought into a room and we were brought out. They were together at least. They'll take care of each other like Nikolas took care of me."

"What about my dad?"

"He's the one who helped get us out of there," she said. "I don't think I've ever been so happy to see your dad in my entire life."

"Is he okay? I mean, was he safe?"

"He's better than okay, Lu," Liz promised. "He was going to go find your brother and get them out. Jason is in there, too. They'll make sure that everyone gets out."

"I just want everyone to make it out. My dad, Lucky, Emily, Carly…there are still so many people in there that I care about," Lulu murmured. "I mean, I've even gotten to know Jason over the past few months. He's inside with Sam now."

"I know, there are people in there that we all care about," Liz remarked as they perched on the edge of the ambulance. Leaning against each other, Liz wrapped her arm around Lulu affectionately, stroking her arm to reassure her. "They are going to make it out."

"Everything changed tonight. We're going to be trying to figure out just how much for a long time to come."

"Probably more than we realize, Lu."

Patrick sat next to Robin's bed, clutching her hand as they watched the scene unfold at the Metrocourt. "It's so bad inside there, Patrick," she whispered, unable to tear her eyes from the screen. "He is playing a mind game that is really going to end up hurting people. I don't really remember much, but I know that it was scary."

"Maybe we shouldn't watch this anymore."

"I can't be there with my family. At least let me see them on T.V. I need to know if Maxie is okay. I need to know if my friends are going to be okay. Nikolas, Elizabeth, Emily, they're all in there. And Lucky, the man who gave his life for me, he's in there."

"You should be resting," he pointed out. "Your body has been through so much. Watching this isn't good for you. You wouldn't let me watch it if I was in your place."

"I almost died tonight, Patrick," she argued hoarsely. "If I want to know that my family is okay, I have every right to do that. Mac, Maxie and Georgie have been the only consistent people in my life, and right now, that psycho has one of them inside. Maxie is like my little sister, Mac has been a father to me. If we lose her, it is going to devastate him. Georgie isn't going to be able to handle it. I have to prepare myself…"

Patrick watched helplessly as she started to sob. She was usually so stoic, so together, but when it came to Mac and the girls, he knew that they were among the people that mattered most to her. He knew that it wouldn't do any good to offer her false hope, to tell her that everything was going to be fine. Instead, he decided to do what he could to support her. "Okay, we'll watch together."

Robin adjusted the bed so that she was sitting up, leaning forward intently as she watched a camera pan around the scene. "There's Mac," she said softly, pointing limply to where he was on the screen. "He looks so brave, but I know that he's scared. He's terrified that he is going to lose Maxie."

"You should have seen him when you were both in there," Patrick revealed. "I think the only time I saw any sense of relief in his eyes was when he saw Georgie. Their brief reunion outside the hotel was the only moment of happiness he had until you were brought outside."

"Wait? Is that Elizabeth?" she asked. They both gaped at the screen as Ric Lansing rushed over to check on his ex-wife. Lulu Spencer sat next to her, both of them wrapped up in the same blanket. "She's out, she's safe. The baby must be fine or she would be here."

"And Lulu got out," Patrick grinned. "Luke must have been able to get her out. I know that he was going to go in with Morgan and Dillon Quartermaine."

"Yeah, there's Dillon," she added. "Standing off to the side with Nikolas. The four of them must have made it out. I don't see Luke or Jason, though. Or Lucky and Emily."

"Luke wouldn't give up while Lucky and Emily are still in there," he assured her. "And Jason still has Sam, Carly and Sonny inside. There is no way he'd leave them there. He'd rather die than do it."

She shook her head. "Normally, I would agree with you, but if Sonny and Carly were both in there and unable to get out, he'd leave them behind if he could get to safety. It's what the three of them would want. One of them would have to make it out for the boys."

"You seem to have a lot of insight into the situation," Patrick commented, hoping to take her attention off the hostages for a few minutes.

"I played second fiddle to Sonny and Carly for years," Robin pointed out. "There is nothing in the world that matters more to Jason than Michael and Morgan, I know that better than anyone. No one ranks like they do, not even Sam. He wouldn't let the boys lose all three of them at once."

"Do you think you still would be with Jason if things had turned out differently?"

"You mean if I hadn't told the truth?" she asked. "No, we wouldn't have made it. I can't imagine a scenario where I don't tell A.J. At the time, I really believed it was the right thing. Now, I'm not so sure. I just know that my revelation changed the lives of five people – Carly, Jason, A.J., Michael and mine. I got pushed out, and A.J.'s dead. It is what it is, I guess."

"Do you regret it?"

She shook her head. "I regret that it hurt Jason so deeply and that Michael's life was ever put at risk. But the rest of it isn't my fault, and I think I've finally come to terms with that now," she said. "Besides, I wouldn't have spent time in Paris with my mother or given myself so wholly to my research. I can't regret it because it gave me my life. It gave me you."