Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One:
The Tangled Web

The Car, an unimportant parking lot in Downtown Niagara Falls.

Emily is in the passenger seat, her feet on the dashboard, knees drawn up under her chin, looking a little shell-shocked. Lucky is staring at the top of the steering wheel, deep in thought.

Em: (suddenly) I'm sorry.

Lucky: Not your fault. (Emily shakes her head slowly, her eyes focuses on the dashboard)

Em: They're crazy, there's no way… I should have known Jason couldn't have kept them quiet forever.

Lucky: (slumping back against the seat) A week would have been nice.

Em: I'm sorry. (Lucky shakes his head, dismissive.

Lucky: (heavily) Don't dwell on it.

Em: Ok. (She shakes her head, which is still pounding… with a little more ferocity now… then puts her hand to her forehead. She takes her tenth deep breath since leaving the Laundromat. She can't panic, she tells herself, yet again. She's got to handle this. As much as she wants to just have a fit, it's not a good time for it). So… We were leaving anyway…

Lucky: Yeah, but we can't go back to the motel. If we're going to get recognized anywhere, it's there.

Em: (nodding) Ok. We got almost everything from there anyway, right? I mean, everything important. (She frowns) I left my toothbrush.

Lucky: Yeah, well that can be replaced.

Em: Ok. So… What's our obstacles?

Lucky: Well, we're in one country and we want to be in another. That's a big one. (Emily thinks on this a moment)

Em: When is Nikolas expecting us? (She stops and bites her lip) Come to think of it, how is Nikolas going to find us?

Lucky: We're meeting him someplace. We have to be in New York by 3:00 tomorrow.

Em: Ok… And the train is… (Lucky shakes his head emphatically)

Lucky: I don't want to risk crossing the border. That was the Buffalo news, I don't want to cross into Buffalo.

Em: Well, what if we headed the other direction, where's the next place to cross?

Lucky: No, we'd have to head up around Lake Ontario, it would take too long. Either that or further in and cross in Detroit… which is the opposite direction of where we want to be.

Em: Right… That's a rule, isn't it?

Lucky: Rule number three, shortest distance between two points.

Em: And we can't fly.

Lucky: If anyone's going to pay attention to Edward, then it's going to be along the border, and at state lines. I mean… Ok. You're a rich kid, your family has a lot of money, but come on… This can't be THAT big a deal.

Em: (ruefully) Thank God for OJ. (She looks at Lucky, hopeful) I guess we'd have to be a little more scandalous than a couple of teenaged runaways.

Lucky: You're a runaway. I'm a kidnapper, remember?

Em: Not yet. (She studies the back of her hand a moment) Lucky… Why do the police want to talk to you?

Lucky: (heavily) I was supposed to be questioned about Hannah's murder the morning we left. I kinda blew it off.

Em: That's it?

Lucky: Far as I know… Well. I mean, they're probably reading something into the fact that I was in town, then left for no apparent reason. (Emily shakes her head)

Em: I still can't believe this. I can't believe he did it. I can't believe he just… So totally hung me out like that!

Lucky: Edward likes to have control over the situation.

Em: It WAS under control! ONE person was looking for us. ONE. Now all of the sudden we're totally screwed.

Lucky: We're not totally screwed. First of all… That photo.

Em: He WOULD use that one.

Lucky: It wasn't that bad. I guess he could have found one where my hair was a little better…

Em: No. He couldn't. (Lucky looks at Emily)

Lucky: Finished?

Em: Sorry.

Lucky: My point is, it was the prom, for God's sake. No one looks like themselves at a prom, it's kinda the whole point.

Em: I don't know… It looked at lot like me as far as I can tell.

Lucky: Yeah, well… You might have to dye your hair or something once we get to New York.

Em: Dye my HAIR?

Lucky: Emily…

Em: (sarcastically) What are you going to do, grow a moustache?

Lucky: Why are you picking on me?

Em: Because I'm pissed and it's easy! And you gotta have SOMETHING in mind, and I hope to hell it's not a hat and sunglasses.

Lucky: Basically screaming to every cop on the planet “HEY! Come harass me”? I'm not going there.

Em: (cracking a bit) Well where ARE we going? And… hey! While we're at it, how are we getting there? And PLEASE make me stop before I say anything else that's going to make me want to cut out my tongue. (Lucky reaches out and takes Emily's hand. Emily immediately grips it in both of hers and lowers her head, resting it against his hand, taking another deep breath).

Lucky: (evenly) Ok. If they recognized us at the motel they'll have the license of the car, so that's gotta be ditched.

Em: (feeling ill) Ok.

Lucky: Secondly, we can't risk public transportation, we have to drive.

Em: But… Ok. Ok, right.

Lucky: As far as getting back to the homeland… We'll wait until dark, go back to the river, and borrow a boat.

Em: Borrow.

Lucky: It's not like this is stuff I do for FUN, Em.

Em: I know, I know. I'm just… Having flashbacks of when I was eight and someone stole my bike, ok? I'll get over it.

Lucky: The last thing we need right now is for the cops to be helping Helena out, ok? But Em? (Lucky reaches over and touches the side of her face lightly with knuckle. She turns to meet his eyes, the worry on her face evident. Lucky can tell she's struggling hard to keep a certain amount of hysteria under the surface.) Emily, if the worst happens… (Emily immediately tenses) Listen to me. If they find us and the cops get involved… We'll still be safe. This isn't impossible.

Em: I swear, if you get in trouble with the law for this…

Lucky: Emily. No matter what, we'll be safe, ok? No one's going to hurt you. I swear.

Em: I don't CARE if they hurt me! I don't want… (She stops, aware that she's sounding like a five-year-old) I want to go to New York, I want to find Nikolas, and I want to do what we were planning to do in the first place.

Lucky: We will.

Em: And I don't want anything taking you away. Nothing, Lucky. I can't promise to be sane about that.

Lucky: (leaning in to kiss her) I wouldn't have it any other way. (He brushes his lips lightly across hers. Emily immediately wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him closer, kissing him deeply. Lucky breaks the kiss, but Emily doesn't permit him to move away. She presses her forehead against his, catching her breath).

Em: (closing her eyes) Just tell me you know what to do.

Lucky: I know what to do.

Em: (taking another deep breath) Ok. Then I can do this.

Wyndemere, Living room.

Nikolas stands by the window, staring out at the setting sun, and digesting the scope of what Alexis has just explained to him. Stefan is pacing the room, stroking his goatee while taking in Nikolas' reaction. Alexis exchanges a look of concern with him.

Alexis: Nikolas, did you know about this? (Nikolas sighs heavily)

Nik: It's hard for me to trust what I thought I knew.

Alexis: But you knew he was a suspect.

Nik: On some level. Yes. I knew the police wanted to talk to him… He found her… But he said that the reason he was leaving town was because… (He stops. How much does he say here?) He was vague about that. He didn't say anything about Hannah.

Alexis: Nikolas. (She looks over at Stefan, who nods slightly) We've looked into Hannah's background. (Nikolas stiffens)

Nik: I see.

Stefan: Posthumously, of course.

Nik: of course.

Alexis: She's… She's lived under several names, were you aware of that?

Nik: I knew her real name. (He turns and faces them) And I know about Emily Quartermaine.

Stefan: I presumed you did.

Nik: That was… That was why she was here.

Alexis: Well… (She sighs deeply) The number of names she lived under are hard to track. At this point I'm only aware of the same ones the police were. (Nikolas leans against the wall, steeling himself for this.) There are three. Corrine Gibbons, Hannah Hargreaves, and Sophie Clark. (Nikolas doesn't blink, though a part of his brain grabs onto the last name. That one he hasn't heard before.) Sophie is the name that… (She looks back at Stefan, wanting some sort of signal, or look of doubt on his face. She just doesn't see the point in telling Nikolas this. Stefan, however, doesn't give her any sign at all. She looks back at him) Sophia Clark, she was… She was involved with a man in New York City. Oliver Taggliati. Did she tell you about him? (Nikolas' throat tightens on him like a vice. He shakes his head) This is the information I've gathered. You might want to sit down.

Nik: I'm fine here.

Alexis: I'll warn you… it puts a very different spin of what Edward Quartermaine did this afternoon.

Nik: Just tell me.

Alexis: All right. Oliver Taggliati is the nephew of a prominent figure in a New York crime family. He's owned a few night clubs, but mostly he's spent most of his adult life as a sort of playboy… In the early nineties he had a girlfriend, Sophia Clark. She… The police believe that they were involved in a drug ring together and that when she left him, she took off with a significant part of their… Business. Taggliati wasn't able to catch up to her. There was a… A contract issued for her life, but he never found her. The police suspect that the contract may have been carried out once she returned to the state. That her attempt to live near her niece was a risk that was too large for her to take and that the hit may have been executed by someone in Jason Morgan's organization… Nikolas. The police have connected Lucky to Morgan. And since he found the body… They have reason to suspect him of being involved with the murder. Even if he didn't have anything to do with the death, they suspect he might have tipped Morgan or the Taggliati family off to her whereabouts. Since he would have had knowledge of her past through Emily. That's why the police want to talk to him.

Nik: (quickly) How did they link him to Jason?

Alexis: An anonymous tip, by the sounds of it.

Nik: a tip? (He forces himself not to look at Stefan. A tip. Or was this what Lucky had insisted was going to happen… the whole point of the bank account. The one his uncle had promised to take care of, then denied the existence of. The room tips violently on him, and he looks away. Alexis and Stefan both mistake his demeanor as a sign of betrayal, pain, or anger against Lucky. Alexis walks towards him)

Alexis: I'm sorry, Nikolas.

Nik: (hoarsely) I'm not surprised.

Alexis: I don't know Lucky personally, not on any level. I take it… I take it you've been feeling that you do.

Nik: (straightening up) I do now. (He looks at Stefan, he sees a look of deep sympathy in his father's eyes. He turns away) What's going to happen now?

Alexis: That's hard to call. Obviously this is going to cause a bit of a stir… in Port Charles more than anywhere else. But he didn't offer an award, and Lucky, by all accounts, knows how to stay out of sight when he wants to. (Nikolas nods slowly, trying to put all this information in line for himself. After a moment he looks back at her)

Nik: (coldly) So we can assume he'll escape unscathed, again. (Alexis looks momentarily fretful, then looks over at Stefan again. He looks at her meaningfully and she picks up her briefcase off the couch).

Alexis: I can look into it further, though I'm not sure how much can be turned up. (Nikolas shrugs and turns away) I am sorry, Nikolas.

Nik: I know. (Alexis watches Nikolas a moment, then turns and nods to Stefan before making her exit from the room. Stefan waits a moment, then crosses to stand behind Nikolas)

Stefan: (quietly) How serious had your involvement with Lucky become? (Nikolas snorts and turns back to Stefan, a bitter expression on his face)

Nik: Serious? They weren't. (Stefan is slightly taken aback by Nikolas' demeanor. Nikolas walks across the room, obviously agitated. He stops by the mantle of the fireplace and stops, forcing himself to breathe. Finally, he turns back to Stefan, considerably more calm.) I went to see him after you told me about Morgan. We had a fight, it wasn't pleasant. I got the feeling he was in trouble.

Stefan: And you didn't come to me with this. (Nikolas shrugs. He walks over to the couch and sits down).

Nik: (simply, disturbingly detached) I was angry, you'd just told me about the pretence we'd been living under for the past year. (Stefan is about to respond, but Nikolas continues in that same quiet, even tone) And it was Lucky Spencer. My interest in his continued well being has always been in the fact that he matters to Lesley Lu. And if he was mixed up with organized crime, then… That mattered to me. (Stefan looks at a Nikolas grimly) You have to understand. Hannah. Hannah came to town to forge a connection to Emily. And Lucky… Well, Lucky and I were a problem. So, for her… I tolerated him. And when it became clear he was having problems… (Nikolas takes a deep breath) When someone tried to kill him, I offered to help get him out of trouble. And he let me. But… Obviously the trouble he was in wasn't the same kind of trouble he led me to believe it was. It wasn't bank accounts or if it was… That was only part of it. I don't know if I can believe he had a part in Hannah's dying. But I don't know if I can believe he didn't either. (Nikolas lowers his head. After a moment he wipes forming tears from his eyes. Stefan comes to sit beside him).

Stefan: You didn't know about the narcotics. (Nikolas sits back on the couch, looking up at the distant ceiling.)

Nik: No. (He shakes his head) She'd talk to him. They worked together. And a few times he came by the apartment while I was there. It felt like… He'd say things to her, like veiled threats or… codes. I just through it was more Spencer idiocy. (He falls into a long silence. When he speaks again, his voice is tight) I guess I was wrong. (Stefan turns away from Nikolas, clearly troubled by this. Not only that Nikolas would have gotten this mixed up in Spencer's problems, but that it may have cost him this much. It seems unfathomable. If something of this sort had been unfolding around him, then how could he not have seen part of it coming? The answer to that seems obvious. He'd given Nikolas too much freedom. He'd allowed him too much contact with the Spencers. But that was all at Nikolas' request… or rather, insistence. He shakes his head).

Stefan: Your Grandmother. She's never been a stupid woman… And from the moment I heard of this woman's death, while Helena seemed to be an obvious suspect… Well, you would feel she robbed you of this. She'd have to know how this would hurt you. And that you'd blame her. (Nikolas suddenly stands up, and crosses to the opposite wall. He puts his arm against the wall and rests his head against it.) Nikolas…

Nik: (shakily, turning back) You're right. It doesn't make any sense for her to do this. It… Not unless she's lost her mind. (He gets steadily less stable as he speaks) We all know what it is she thinks she can get from me. So… She comes to town, does nothing, then leaves again? (Stefan frowns)

Stefan: She visited the Spencers.

Nik: I know. For God knows what reason… if you ask Laura it was just to scare the life out of her. And the rest of us.

Stefan: She must have had a reason…

Nik: (exploding) I don't care! I don't CARE about her anymore, I just want this to be over! I thought I wanted her dead, I thought this was her fault! Now you're saying… What? That it's Lucky's? Or Lucky's “employer”?

Stefan: Nothing is certain.

Nik: (darkly) Yes. Some things are. The fact that the Spencers will never think of me as human… (Nikolas starts to shake as he speaks. His voice cracking, then tears beginning to fall. Stefan stares at him, pained) That they can sacrifice anything that's important to me to serve their ends. And I'm supposed to stay here, in their town, in their lives, and suffer for it? Without any sort of escape?

Stefan: Nikolas, you are BETTER than them!

Nik: THEN WHY DO THEY KEEP WINNING? (Nikolas stops, aware that the walls are nearly shaking with the volume of his response. He opens his eyes, letting the tears just stream down his face unimpeded.) You're denying me the right to walk away, you want me to stay and face this… why? For what possible reason? So that Luke Spencer can blame me for whatever selfish and cowardly action Lucky makes next? So that I can act as the villain so that they don't have to face the demons in their own family? How can you ask me… How can you tell me I'm safe here? Why are you forcing me to watch… To see just how depraved the people Laura chose over me are? Why?

Stefan: I'm not. Nikolas. (He reaches out and pulls Nikolas into his arms) I'm not. I will protect you. And if you have to leave… I will not stop you.

The Quartermaine Mansion.

All eyes immediately fall on Edward standing, in all his self-righteous glory, in the entrance to the room. They stare at him in shocked outrage, even his family surprised he'd make such a galled entrance. Luke, standing at the far end of the room, starts across the floor, very slowly, almost unnoticed. Well, unnoticed with the exception of Laura, who knows full well where this must be going, but can't quite bring herself to put a stop to it.

Edward, aware that Luke is making his way towards him, avoids Spencer's gaze and focuses on Monica, clearly hoping that if he ignores Luke, he'll just go away.

Ed: Now, I know what you're going to say!

Monica: (ice) Oh, I don't think you do. (Luke continues across the room, picking up speed. AJ and Alan notice this, and watch him warily as he approaches.)

Ed: Before you all get all twisted out of shape…

Luke: (rushing him) You want to see “twisted out of shape”? (Alan, acting out of some sort of familial sense of duty, tackles Luke just as Luke reaches Edward. The force of the blow sends Luke crashing down on top of Edward, and the three end up in a pile on the floor. Laura, momentarily relieved to see a crazier family than hers in action, sits down on the couch, trying to avoid all eye contact. She's aware the room feels she could stop this if she really wanted to. AJ, after a moment of shock, moves to help his father up)

Ed: (screaming) Good Lord! Get this mad man off of me! (Alan now, on his feet, pull a slightly amused/surprised Luke up of Edward who is choking and writhing around on the floor.)

Alan: Oh, get up, father!

Ed: Medic!

Alan: I'm a doctor. Get up! (Edward sits up and points an accusing finger at Luke, still being restrained by Alan and AJ)

Ed: Get him away from me! He's crazy!

Alan: You're just figuring this out now?

Laura: (finally stepping in) Luke, this isn't going to solve anything. (Luke glances over at his wife, and sees immediately, that she's got that “look” on her face. The one that always suggests he listen to her and stop whatever he's doing. He doesn't always listen to it, but in situations like this, she's usually right.

Luke: Oh, I don't know about that. It'll make me feel a whole hell of a lot better.

Laura: Luke! (She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath) It'd make me feel better too, but Lucky and Emily are coming back one day, and… Well. I don't want to have to explain this one to them. Things are complicated enough without adding Edward's murder to the list. (She glances over at the man) At least wait until there are less witnesses. (Luke stares at Laura a moment, then cracks a smile)

Ed: WITNESSES! Now listen here! I all ready let your son get away with assaulting a member of my family and look where THAT got us? (Luke raises his eyebrows, quickly deciding that torturing this guy is a lot more fun that beating the life out of him. Laura speaks up)

Laura: Lucky ASSAULTED someone?

Luke: Aw, he gave Alan Junior here a little love tap, that's all. (Luke easily shrugs AJ off of him, and glances down at him) Just, you know… He's used to playing with kids his own size. (AJ glowers at Luke, but Laura steps in)

Laura: Either way, no matter what happened before, we've got an entirely new problem on our hands.

Ed: See, you listen to her! She's got all the sense in your family!

Luke: Yin to my Yang.

Ed: I don't want to hear about your debauched home life!

Monica: EDWARD! For God's sake, do you realize what you just did to these people? Why are you provoking them?

Ed: What I did to them?

Monica: The police had all but TOLD us that they were willing to look the other way!

Luke: That POLICE?

Ed: Yes, the police! The police who have been looking all over hell's half acre for you precious progeny!

Luke: I know damn well what they've been doing! (He looks at Monica) They told you they'd look the other way?

Monica: Well, they didn't SAY that. But it was certainly implied!

Luke: Which guy?

Monica: Excuse me?

Luke: Who was here?

Monica: Detectives Garcia and Taggert.

Luke: Taggert! The only time that guy looks the other way is when he sees a bigger mark coming. Jesus, Edward. They played you like a mandolin! It must be getting round town you got more money than brains these days.

Ed: (suddenly healed, starts to struggle to his feet) Why, you…

Monica: Edward, sit DOWN! (Stunned by her voice, Edward drops down onto the floor again.) You're going to STAY there and listen! I swore to you, I'd have you out of this house so fast your head would SPIN if you did this, and you just went right ahead and did it anyway! Without thinking for a MINUTE that maybe I had a point! That maybe I wasn't completely crazy for thinking that if Laura and Jason and everyone else I found who knew anything about this told me that my daughter was safe and in good hands that I should just keep my mouth shut and hope it stayed that way!

Ed: Are you listening to yourself? You don't know the first thing about that boy!

Laura: I do. (The assembled company turns to look at Laura. She steps towards Edward, a stern expression on her face.) He's my son, remember? He's not just some kid Emily ran of with. He's my child.

Ed: Laura… You're a sweet woman. I've always thought that. But I think on the subject of Lucky, your opinion may be a little biased. (Luke, immediately incensed, steps forward protectively, but Laura beats him to the punch)

Laura: (with building anger) Listen to me! You have no right to cast aspersions about Lucky just because you don't like his parents or the way he was raised. Just because you don't understand the fact that he doesn't care what you think of him! Your Granddaughter loves him, and you can't even stop and take pause in that and ask yourself if there might actually be something more to him!

Ed: The HELL I CAN'T! You stand here and talk to me like I have determined Lucky's character based on the length of his hair and how many holes he has punched in his body! I gave that boy every chance, but I don't abide ANYONE who messes with my family! Now I can see to you, perhaps a little frame-up is all fun and games, no big deal! Well, I'll tell you something. That stunt of his cost AJ his son! And me my great-grandson! So you'll have to understand if I decided that Lucky was an immoral, unfeeling Judas!

Laura: Excuse me?

Luke: Laura?

Laura: I'm sorry, frame… (She stops. The pieces are already too clear. She knew something had happened with the Quartermaines. She knew something had happened with Carly… And Michael. She doesn't even want to know the rest.)

Ed: Ah! See? There you are, you didn't know anything about that, did you? How well do you think you know your son now? (Laura turns and walks across the room. Luke reaches out and grabs her arm but she pulls away from him angrily. She turns suddenly and marches back to Edward)

Laura: (enraged) What makes you people think they can stand in judgment of my son? What makes you think you know the first thing about him or why he makes the choices he makes? You don't understand him, you don't know what's important to him! But you can sit here and decide that he's “immoral” and that I'm a bad mother for allowing him to… (She stops dead, her voice shaking, then turns and looks at the rest of the family) I raised a… a… a GOOD child. A caring child. He'll do anything for the people he loves and I am PROUD of him for that. How can you look me in the eye and actually suggest that I don't know my own son? (On the last word, Laura crumbles. She presses her hand over her mouth, tears suddenly spilling from her eyes. Luke, the victim of old habits he'll never be able to break, despite any amount of anger, moves quickly to her, but Laura turns from him and walks out of the mansion without a word. Luke watches her go, stunned, then turns and looks at the Quartermaines. He opens his mouth, but decides he has nothing left to say that outweighs his concern for Laura. He looks down at Edward)

Luke: Watch your step, old man. (He turns on his heel and hurries out of the mansion. Pulling open the door, he spots Laura, already at the end of the driveway) Laura! (She hears him and stops, but doesn't turn around. Luke dashes after he. He stops a few steps away, and looks at her back, unsure of what to do next. She turns to him after a moment, in agony)

Laura: God, I wish they weren't right. (Luke stares at her while he connects her words back to the “bad Mother” remark.)

Luke: Baby…

Laura: Oh, don't tell me I'm wrong! (She wipes at her eyes) It isn't fair, to either of us. I know you've never been able to watch me cry! You say things and do things… And then the next day… (She covers her face and takes a long and labored breath, then looks back up) Was that why Emily left him?

Luke: He never would talk about it. But yeah, it was. (Laura shakes her head)

Laura: Why would he DO that? (She looks at Luke) I know. I have no right to even ask that question. (Luke's face darkens). You don't think I understand what I did, Luke… But it's becoming very clear to me. Looking at them, looking at Edward and all that contempt. And knowing they were all doubting him, doubting his motives… And he's… And I know that I can't blame him for one thing he did since… Since it all went wrong. (She sighs) He made his own decisions. But I never even tried to find out what they were. I never wanted to know. I just wanted to believe everything was fine. And it's not. It wasn't.

Luke: No. It wasn't. (They fall into a long silence. After a moment Laura looks at Luke, meeting his eyes. She can see the pain and conflict there clear as day. She doesn't know what to say to him. Or even if anything she tried would make a difference.)

Laura: (suddenly) I love you. (Luke looks somewhat surprised to hear that, then nods slowly)

Luke: I love you too, Darlin'.

Laura: But it's not about love, is it?

Luke: No.

Laura: I… I should go home. Felicia is bringing Lulu home soon. (Luke nods) Will… Will you be out to the house any time soon?

Luke: I'll call. (Laura nods).

Laura: I'll wait.

Wyndemere, The Parapet.

Nikolas paces the length of the Parapet, feeling incredibly shaky. It was all too easy. The lies had rolled off his tongue with out even registering in any real way with him. He couldn't remember coming up with them. It was like they were lying dormant in some part of his mind to suddenly spill forward. Some sort of talent he didn't even know he possessed.

It was everything he hated. Lies, manipulations… And absolute hypocrisy. He'd berated his father on so many occasions for half-truths, for playing on his emotions, for forcing his hand. And now he was turning it back on him. Why didn't that give him some sort of perverse pleasure? Or was the problem that it did?

No. The problem was that he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd been betrayed. Somehow betrayed in the way he'd just described. It was almost as if a part of him believed it. Or that he had believed it as he'd said it, he'd been able to make if real for himself. That was why he'd been able to react the way he had, all the while a cool and collected voice in the back to his head coldly noting that he was achieving his goal. He was going to get to leave.

Nikolas speeds up his pace, repeating the truths to himself in his head. How could it be so easy to twist everything like that? Why was it so easy to believe that it could have happened?

The answer grips him with a sudden cold realization. Because that was what everyone had wanted him to believe. And he probably would have. He would have if he hadn't seen Lucky's account, if he hadn't watched Lucky dealing with Luke at the penthouse, if he hadn't seen him in the parking lot after Emily's accident. He closes his eyes, stopping his walk, and leaning against the wall. He has to remember that. It's his proof. More than anything, whatever Lucky is, unfeeling isn't it. And he can't let himself think that it was all a game. Lucky couldn't have faked all of that stuff. Mostly he couldn't have faked how hard it was for him to deal with Nikolas knowing about all of this. No. Lucky wasn't the one lying to him. Nonetheless, the idea… Just to entertain it briefly, made him feel uncontrollably ill. At least with his father, the lies, as much as he hated them, were born of love. If they came form Lucky, what emotion would be feeding them?

He shakes the feeling off violently. He needs to get out of here. It's too… Claustrophobic. Too much of a lie. He feels like he's stuck in some sort of Escher print, with things that appear to work until you look at them, water that falls up even though it appears to fall down. Everything is tangled, and he feels like he's about to explode. He turns suddenly and heads back into the Manor. He has to get out of this place, if only for a little while.