Everything was calm now at GH. Trina still sat with Laura and her family, determined to stay with the family until Spencer arrived safe and sound. She knew that her mother was worried, but she couldn't bring herself to care about that. She just needed to be with people who cared about Spencer too and right now, that was the mayor and her son and brother, and Cam's mother and her boys.
Elizabeth was just heading for Laura's room when Portia stopped her. "How is Trina? I would ask her, but she's stopped talking to me. I think she's tired of me begging her to go home."
"She is a lot better now that she knows for sure that Spencer is safe and coming home. She's even cracked a smile or two at one of Lucky's jokes and she looked really interested when Martin talked about that cake he likes so much. He's such a sweet man to be Valentin's lawyer actually," Elizabeth chuckled.
"At least she's not alone, I guess...and not surrounded by Cassadines," the last word was said through clenched teeth.
"Careful. You're going to start sounding like Lucky's father Luke," Elizabeth chuckled, then winced, remembering that the man was now dead, or assumed to be so.
"Are you okay?" Portia noticed Elizabeth's drop in mood.
"I'm fine. I just remembered that Luke is gone now and...god it reminds me of how these people have become family to me. Closer than my own blood relatives. It's crazy. Laura's the mom that my own mother should have been and Luke...well he was like a crazy Uncle. And they came into my life because I fell in love with their son Lucky once upon a time. Now Lucky and I are completely different people, no longer together...yet still a part of each other lives. It's just funny how my life has ended up so far."
Portia signed, unable to disagree. She had never thought that she'd be so estranged from her daughter like she was now. She had thought that they would always have a close relationship. But now...she considered herself lucky if her daughter even said hello to her. It was like, after the chaos of Trina's little adventure when she no longer felt in danger, the rift that seemed to have closed between them was now back.
"Life does take its twists and turns," Portia gave a tight smile. "Keep an eye on her for me, will you? I don't want to alienate her any more than I already have and I'm afraid that'll happen if I keep bugging her."
"Oh, of course. Don't you worry, she's in good hands."
Portia just smiled and started her rounds, hoping to push any more thoughts about her daughter out of her mind for the time being.
"Elizabeth?"
Lucky had spotted Elizabeth talking to Portia and had become concerned. Once the doctor was gone, he approached her. He felt guilty when Elizabeth jumped, obviously startled.
"Lucky, don't do that! I thought you were...I don't know who I thought you were, but I thought you were them," Elizabeth's cheeks grew hot with embarrassment.
Lucky just chuckled. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you. I saw you talking to the doctor and wondered if there was any more word on my mother's condition."
"Oh...oh no, there hasn't been. That was Trina's mother asking me to keep an eye on Trina. That's all."
"Oh. She's pretty. Spencer has good taste," Lucky glanced over at the room where Trina now sat next to his mother, holding her hand.
"She's brave too. She did what I would have done all those years ago if I could. If I had known that Helena was going to kidnap you. I would have found a way to help you…"
"Elizabeth...I'm glad that you couldn't. Helena would have killed you if you were caught, and you would have been. I'm glad that you weren't in that kind of danger. I'm still wondering how Trina managed to survive the Cassadines like that."
"Well, it helped that Spencer helped her, obviously. God, I am so sick of that family, Lucky. I really do hope that this is the end of it. Let Laura and her family live in peace! God, I'm still dealing with what Helena did to Jake!"
"He is really quiet…"
"Which is why I am so glad that you are back. Who better to relate to than someone who was that woman's prisoner himself."
"I should never have left. I should have stayed and helped Jake deal with it all. I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I really wish that I had been a stronger man when the boys needed me to be."
"Lucky...you were right to leave. You weren't able to be that person. It was better that you went away and got healthy for them than to stay and let them watch you fall apart over and over again."
"Are you sure about that?" Lucky frowned, unable to believe her words.
"Yes, I am. Think of how much damage you could have done to them psychologically if they saw their father relapse again and again? Hmm? How would that have affected them? How would that have affected Jake? It was best that they didn't see that."
"I'm sorry I was an addict at all. God, I never in a million years thought I'd end up like this. Someone that I had sworn I'd never be."
"Hey," Elizabeth placed a hand on his arm. "You're not that bad. I mean, yes. It sucks that you weren't in the boy's lives for this long. It sucks that you all missed out on so much. It sucks that Helena kidnapped you and twisted your life upside down and was responsible for all that happened really. But you made it through, Lucky. You did what you had to do to get well so you could come back to your family and that's what matters. You're not as bad as you say you are."
"You're not as bad as you think you are either, Elizabeth. All that you've gone through because of Helena…"
"Oh, Helena's not even half of it. My parents were responsible too."
Lucky frowned, sensing that there was more to what Elizabeth was saying. "Come, let's sit and talk."
Taking Elizabeth's hand, he lead her up a flight of stairs and to the sofa where Spencer and Trina had once watched a certain video. It was a private area where it was just the two of them.
"Ok, spill. What do you mean your parents were responsible too?" Lucky questioned.
"Before I came to Port Charles...my mother had brainwashed me."
"What?"
"It's a long story...I don't even know if you'd want to hear it."
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't, "Lucky took her hand, gently rubbing the back of it with his thumb. "But if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."
Looking into his eyes, she saw the Lucky that had once been her best friend. The one person she could tell anything to. The only person she had trusted after that horrible night. She found herself trusting him again. Slowly, she opened up, telling him about finding out about her father's affair, causing the woman to fall down the stairs, and her parents' actions to "protect" her. She then told him how it all had come out after Franco's death. How she had done all these things in her sleep and how she had confronted her parents and found out the truth.
Lucky stared at her in disbelief. As someone who had been brainwashed himself, he found it outrageous that her parents would pull such a thing. How could they mess with their daughter's head like that?
"Elizabeth, I am so sorry that happened to you."
"I am too. All that's happened to me after moving here...it was all because of them! Heck, maybe that's why I had a hard time staying faithful. Maybe it's even in the blood," Elizabeth rubbed her eyes.
"You may have a point there. After all, Ethan is proof of that," Lucky sighed, staring at his hands. "Not that I regret Ethan's existence. He's an awesome brother, really. He's always there when I need him. Just like…"
"Nikolas," Elizabeth looked up at the ceiling, the anger and sadness she felt about Nikolas rising up in her chest.
"It looks like that darkness he was struggling with finally won. I was hoping that he would have fought harder. For his son if for nothing else."
"Sons. Ace is his son too."
"Ava had a baby?"
"Oh, Laura didn't tell you?" Elizabeth gave a dry chuckle, not blaming Laura at all. How embarrassing to have a son do what Nikolas did. "No, Spencer's ex-girlfriend is Ace's mother. That's right. He slept with his own son's girlfriend."
"Damn Nikolas! Wasn't sleeping with his brother's fiancee enough? Did he have to go even lower than that? I suppose Spencer is furious with him."
"Oh, he was. Very furious. The rift between them reminds me of when you hated Luke and would have nothing to do with him. In fact, Spencer reminds me a lot of you. Makes me wonder if you're his father and not Nikolas."
Lucky rolled his eyes. "My mother has strong genes. That's what you're seeing. Poor Spencer. He's really going through it and where is Nikolas? Shouldn't he be here at least wanting to know that his son is safe?"
Elizabeth simply shrugged. "He's probably hiding out from the police. He's wanted for holding Esme prisoner while she's pregnant. Somehow, I allowed him to talk me into helping him, then he just leaves me holding the bag. I'm lucky not to be in jail now."
Lucky shook his head, not understanding his brother at all this time. After they had made up after the whole affair thing, Lucky had thought he could understand Nikolas's motivations, but now...it was another story entirely. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. You've been drawn into my crazy family and it just seems to keep getting you into trouble. I bet you wish you had never met me, now."
Elizabeth laughed. "Actually, Lucky. I am so happy I had met you. If I hadn't...I never would have met Laura and she's been more of a mother to me than my own could ever be. She's been a grandmother to all of my boys, without even having to be asked. I love her so much. I'll always be thankful for what we had because it not only gave me Aiden, but it gave me Laura. She's been my rock through everything."
Lucky smiled, feeling tears in her eyes. "Well, I'm glad that I was able to give you something good after all. Mom is a wonderful woman."
"She is. And she's going to be fine, Lucky. I know it. Once Spencer walks through that door healthy and alive, she'll come back to us."
"I hope you're right. We all need her."
Elizabeth smiled as they lapsed into a comfortable silence that felt so familiar to her. She knew that he wasn't the same Lucky that she had fallen in love with as a teenager and amazingly, she no longer wanted him to be. It'd be great if they could build a new friendship, not based on tragedy and trauma, but as grown adults with people and things in common.
"So...are you going to be staying in Port Charles once Laura's well again? Or are you heading back out into the world?"
Lucky looked up so their eyes met and he had to smile. He really did like this grown-up, confident, Elizabeth. He could see something new forming there. He was curious about what would happen if he did stay. He could rebuild his relationship with the boys once and for all. He could be there for his brother's kids and Lulu's. He could have a real life with real connections at last, and for once, he felt ready for it. All of the brainwashing and the addiction...it was long in the past. It was time to come home and be the adult he had grown up to be.
"I think...I think I'm going to stay. I have family here...and they need me...and I need them. No more running away. I'm going to be the son that my mom always knew I could be. I feel ready for it now."
Elizabeth's smile was bright and happy. "Well then, welcome home Lucky. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
Elizabeth held her hand out for a handshake. Getting what she meant, Lucky smiled and accepted the gesture. "Thank you very much. Imogene."
"Hey!" She laughed, playfully hitting his arm.
Sitting there on that couch, Lucky and Elizabeth laughed over their shared moment. The two teenage lovebirds were long gone, but it was going to be interesting to see where their new grown-up friendship would lead them to.
(A/N: well, the LL2 portion of this story didn't go the way I was planning it to, because I'm too into Sprina at the moment. Plus I don't want this story to be too long, and I feel it would need to be longer for there to be the kind of LL2 story I would want to write. Maybe I'll write a sequel or some short stories for this version of LL2. I'll always love their love story when they were teens and will forever wish that the writers hadn't done both characters wrong throughout the show. There's also the fact that I stopped watching after who I call Pod Lucky returned, didn't watch Beefcake Lucky, and did watch OG Lucky, just for them to sink LL2 for good. So I'm not really in tune with the full history of LL2 after the big Cassadine story in the early 2000s. But thank you for reading this chapter and if you want to see more LL2 stories from me, let me know. I'll see what I can do.)