Chapter One Hundred Fourty-Nine:
Long Time, No See

Train to Brindisi.

Nikolas sits, reading a book, on the outside seat. Emily, true to her word, is asleep, leaning against his shoulder. The train moves into a station, the breaks screeching, distracting Nikolas from his book, and waking Emily. She blinks, bleary, then sits up quickly, realizes she was resting against Nikolas.

Em: (rubbing her eyes) I'm sorry. (Nikolas closes his book)

Nik: It's ok. Are you feeling better?

Em: Uh… (She closes her eyes, leaning against the seat) I have a headache.

Nik: You look exhausted.

Em: I'll deal with it. (She puts her hand over her ribs) I'm just feeling tender today.

Nik: Are you going to tell me what happened?

Em: (making a face) I… I had to leave the hotel a bit earlier than expected.

Nik: My grandmother. (Emily sighs heavily, opening her eyes)

Em: I really don't want to talk about it. All that matters is the we got out of Rome and we're going to meet Lucky really soon and he'll tell us what to do from here on out. (Nikolas' face clouds, not lost on Emily) Sorry. I realize that's not nearly as comforting for you as it is for me.

Nik: (shaking his head) No, you're right. But… God, you did just fine, you know that, right? (Emily groans)

Em: I'm just glad it's over. (She leans her head against the window, looking out at the station) Where are we?

Nik: Bari. We should pull into Brindisi in about an hour.

Em: Thank God. (Emily opens her purse, and starts digging around in it) I really need an aspirin.

Nik: We can probably get one from the conductor.

Em: No, no, I have to have one. (She pulls out a pill bottle and looks at it ruefully) I've been on these things so long, I think I forgot what simple pain felt like.

Nik: (taking the bottle) What's this?

Em: Just pain killers. I stopped taking them when it stopped hurting to breathe. (she pulls out her make up case.) Ok, cross your fingers for me. (Nikolas examines the pills, remembering that it really hasn't been all that long since the accident. Just… Two weeks? Emily pulls a small round tube pronouncing TYLENOL out of her bag) Eureka. (She unscrews the top and swallows down two pills without aid of water.)

Nik: Do you want something to drink? (Emily shakes her head)

Em: I've had lots of practice. (She takes the bottle back, and drops it into her purse.) How about you? Do you need anything?

Nik: I'm fine. I didn't just get out of the hospital.

Em: (smiling slightly) The hospital. God, I barely even remember it.

Nik: You recovered quickly.

Em: (shrugging) I'm sort of wondering about that. I still don't have that much energy.

Nik: Lack of energy… That couldn't have anything to do with getting no sleep, or how you got those marks on your arms, would it?

Em: (glancing down) I just had a bad night. (she looks over at him, desperate to change the topic) What's with the bag, anyway? What did you have to bring with you?

Nik: I… I had something that has to make it to the island with me.

Em: Sounds appropriately mysterious.

Nik: Don't try to change the subject, Emily. Something happened, you're different.

Em: (distantly) Am I?

Nik: Yes.

Em: (with a tinge of bitterness) I guess you could say that I woke up to my reality.

Nik: Emily…

Em: I know. I'm not making any sense. (She laughs hollowly) Would you believe that I'm trying really hard not to call your grandmother a bitch?

Nik: (frowning) Why? I've called her worse.

Em: I know… But somewhere in the back of my mind, I can't stop thinking it's not a very nice thing to say to someone's grandson.

Nik: I don't harbor any illusions about my grandmother. I know what she is. I know what's she's capable of. And I know she must have done something to you.

Em: (looking down at her wrists) She just called me. That's all.

Nik: (freezing) Excuse me?

Em: She called me. She knew the name I was travelling under, she knew that Lucky wasn't with me…

Nik: What did she say?

Em: Nothing really. Just… Let me know that she was “on” to me, I guess.

Nik: Emily…

Em: I just… That's why I want to get to Brindisi so badly. If she knew where I was, then she might know where Lucky is. And if she does… (Emily shakes her head, turning to look out of the window)

Nik: Lucky can handle it. It's what he does, right?

Em: Yeah…

Nik: You handled it.

Em: (bitterly) Barely.

Nik: What did you do?

Em: I waited for awhile, then I snuck out of the hotel along the roof.

Nik: You WHAT?

Em: It was the only way out.

Nik: The roof.

Em: (displaying her wrists) Shingle burn. (Nikolas shakes his head)

Nik: (quietly) Emily… If I don't… (He stops and looks up at her, meeting her eyes) If, for some reason, I forget to thank you for doing this… for being here… you have my permission to smack me.

Em: You don't have to thank me.

Nik: This is my mess…

Em: She was my aunt. (Emily's face darkens) I can pretend this is more about you or Lucky than it is about me, but it's all a lie. She killed my aunt. She tried to kill me. And if she has her way, she'll destroy Lucky while she's at it. Trust me… I'm here for entirely selfish reasons. (Nikolas draws back slightly, a little disturbed at Emily's manner).

Nik: I… I believe you. (Emily turns and looks out her window again)

Em: How much time to Brindisi?

Nik: About an hour. (She nods, and lies her head against the window)

Em: Don't let me sleep through it.

Wyndemere.

Stefan is going over papers at his desk, not looking as if they hold any particular interest to him. He hears the sound of high-heeled shoes approaching, and looks up just as Alexis bursts into the room.

Alexis: (a bit breathless) There you are!

Stefan: Alexis…

Alexis: (quickly, crossing to him) I just got a phone call.

Stefan: What is it?

Alexis: The Chimera. It's gone.

Stefan: Gone.

Alexis: Gone. It's… It had been moored near Odessa, she was visiting family. Now, it's just gone.

Stefan: (statement of fact) It can't be gone.

Alexis: Well, it IS! Have to talked to Nikolas?

Stefan: (getting up) Not since this morning.

Alexis: We have to tell him. (Stefan is already crossing to the phone)

Stefan: I left a message for him when I finished breakfast this morning. He wasn't at the hotel… (Stefan picks up the phone and turns back to her) I haven't…

Alexis: I put in a call to the guards already. They haven't returned the page, yet. (Stefan sets the phone down, grim)

Stefan: I see. (Stefan's hands close in a steel grip around the back of an ornate chair)

Alexis: Did they report in last night?

Stefan: He dined with Lord Ruben.

Alexis: Lord Ruben?

Stefan: It surprised me too… However, we did socialize with them often when we were still on the island.

Alexis: Yes, but…

Stefan: (talking a little too fast) Perhaps he is simply trying to go back to a simpler time. It can't be very comforting for him, this seclusion. (Alexis raises her eyebrows)

Alexis: No, I can't imagine where he would have picked up any tendencies towards a solitary and morose lifestyle.

Stefan: Alexis…

Alexis: Stefan, we can't panic yet. Helena is off the radar, true, but we'll find her again, and when we do… I think we have to take more direct action. (Stefan takes her in, then nods, slowly)

Stefan: I agree. It is long past time.

Alexis: Stefan… I know it's rash, and outside of your nature, but… With each year she becomes more twisted and desperate. I don't know how much longer we can protect Nikolas from this.

Stefan: I suspect if you asked Nikolas, he'd say that we already failed in our attempts. Surely we can't claim to have spared him pain.

Alexis: You've done everything you could. Given your circumstances, you've done more… (Stefan pushes the chair, angrily, and turns away, crossing the room)

Stefan: It hasn't been enough! (turning back) Not as long as she lives to torture him like this! To rob him of any stability all in the name of reclaiming what has been long since lost.

Alexis: What are you saying?

Stefan: She is my mother, Alexis. And as much as loathe the sight of her, I can't condone matricide. I can't even risk the chance of that sort of rumor… it's an impropriety we simply can't afford.

Alexis: No… but there are other options.

Stefan: There are always other options.

Alexis: (smiling) A nice institution, for instance, deep in eastern Europe?

Stefan: (calming a little) I have always appreciated how your mind works, Alexis.

Alexis: Then we have decided… once she's located, we act.

Stefan: Yes. Until then, we warn Nikolas and try to persuade him to relocate.

Alexis: He knows the realities of the situation… (Alexis's voice trails off as the Chief of security enters, looking a little nervous).

Chief of Security: Mr. Cassadine. (Stefan looks up at him, sharply)

Stefan: Yes. Have the operatives reported in?

Chief: Yes. (He looks at Alexis, avoiding the chill of Stefan's gaze) I'm afraid I have some bad news.

Le Ferie, Brindisi.

Lucky sits at the same back table he and Theo occupied the night before, Marfoglia still in his company. He has a glass of a particularly dark beer, which he keeps spinning on the table top, getting increasingly agitated. He has only recently reached the point so extreme worry, and his patience has finally snapped. While he promised himself not to start panicking before 4:30, his stomach is twisting on him. He looks down at his watch for the millionth time since sitting down in the bistro fifteen minutes ago. Theo looks at him with concern.

Theo: You're not making anything happen quickly looking at your watch like that. (Lucky, in a sudden burst of anger, pulls the watch off his wrist and tosses it across the table to Theo)

Lucky: Then get it away from me.

Theo: I recommend you finish that drink.

Lucky: Won't help.

Theo: You're gonna give yourself an ulcer before you're twenty, you realize that?

Lucky: Unlikely. (He takes a gulp of the beer, and puts it down on the table) What time is it?

Theo: About thirty seconds since you checked! (Lucky looks away) I thought you didn't worry.

Lucky: I don't. But eventually, if something goes wrong, you have to do something about it.

Theo: You wanna give me a hint? I could help you out.

Lucky: (angrily) Yeah? You wanna turn back time, 'cause if they don't show up soon, that's gonna be about the only solution.

Theo: You don't have to be to the boat until seven.

Lucky: Doesn't matter. (He looks down at his wrist, forgetting momentarily that he lost the watch, then looks up sharply.) I have to make a phone call… (Lucky is cut off by the sound of the door opening, the afternoon light spilling into the darkened room. He glances up for the hundredth time that hour and stares at Emily, appearing in the doorway, wondering if he might have been dreaming. He stands up and she crosses to him, starting out at a walk, then dropping her bag and running to him. Lucky moves out form behind the table and Emily throws herself into his arms. Lucky, realizing something must have gone wrong, immediately looks to the door again and finally allows himself a sigh of relief when he sees Nikolas.)

Lucky: (closing his eyes) Thank God.

Em: (nearly strangling him) I'm sorry. We got here and then we couldn't find the place, and… (She holds him tighter) I'm sorry.

Lucky: It's all right. (He pulls back, gingerly, and takes her face in his hands, and forces a smile) I tried to call you this morning, you'd already left. I was trying not to let my imagination run away with me. (Emily smiles weakly, not even wanting to get into it. She raises her lips to his and kisses him softly)

Em: Doesn't matter. (Theo, who has been watching Nikolas, still at the entrance, coughs. Emily pulls back, glancing at him) Oh. I'm sorry. Hi…

Lucky: This is Theo, he's a friend of your brother's.

Em: Ah… Right. Hello. (She extends her hand and frowns) I don't meet many of my brother's “friends”.

Theo: Well, it's a pleasure to the first. (Theo raises Emily's hand and kisses it lightly. Emily stares at him a moment, slightly embarrassed)

Em: Okaaaaaay… (she turns to Nikolas, calling out to him where he stands, still at the door) Are you coming?

Nik: Are we staying?

Em: (turning to Lucky) Are we staying? (Lucky shrugs)

Lucky: We have two hours to kill.

Em: (looking back at Nikolas, gesturing, smiling for the first time since she's crossed paths with him) We have two hours, come on. (Theo takes this in as Nikolas starts forward, picking up Em's bag as he passes it)

Theo: (under his breath) Fascinating dynamic. (To Lucky) This is the invisible brother?

Nik: (approaching, just in time to hear the word “brother”) Two hours until what?

Lucky: (short) Departure. We're not here for the scenery. (Nikolas looks at Lucky a moment)

Nik: (pointedly) Hello.

Lucky: Hey. (To Emily) Did you eat anything?

Em: I had breakfast. (Lucky slides his hand around the back of her neck, taking her in, intently)

Lucky: Are you ok?

Em: Everyone keeps asking me that today! Trust me, I've been worse.

Lucky: You look tired.

Nik: She didn't get much sleep. (Lucky looks up at Nikolas, his expression guarded, to say the least.)

Lucky: Thanks. I can see that. (Emily shivers involuntarily, then pastes on a smile and turns to Theo, clapping her hands)

Em: Ummm… So! Theo?

Theo: At your service.

Em: What's good here?

Theo: Everything. (Emily smiles weakly, having hoped for a more involved answer. Theo picks up on this.) Do you like seafood? They have wonderful seafood pasta.

Em: (a bit too enthused) Sounds great.

Theo: An All-American girl with a healthy appetite. That's hard to find… at least ones that will admit it.

Em: I don't care what I admit to, as long as I get fed. (Lucky looks at her like she's possessed)

Lucky: What's going on…

Em: (lightly, sliding her hands into her pockets) We can talk about it when we're on our way. I'm assuming we've got some kind of transportation?

Theo: Solid, fast… it will endure wind and weather.

Em: That's good to know.

Theo: It will get you to Eyio, at least.

Nik: (to Lucky) He knows where we're going?

Lucky: (slightly challenging) Yeah.

Theo: Ah! Allow me to introduce myself… Theo Marfoglia. (Theo extends his hand. Nikolas, a tad wary, takes it in a firm handshake, and opens his mouth to speak)

Nik: Ni…

Lucky: (sharply) Don't.

Nik: (moving his eyes from Theo's to Lucky's, tensing, he finishes his sentence pointedly) Nice to meet you. (He drops Theo's hand, glaring at Lucky, who looks back at him, as if nothing happened.)

Theo: (clearing his throat) I'm going to have a chat with the chef, see what kind of farewell cuisine we can whip up for you kids. (Theo steps back, looking at them in amused confusion) Don't eat each other while I'm gone. (He turns and heads back into the kitchen. The second the door swings shut behind him, Nikolas leans in close).

Nik: (hissing) How much of an idiot do you think I am, anyway? (Lucky shrugs)

Lucky: (coldly) We only have two hours.

Nik: Meaning…? (Emily throws her hands up, stepping between them)

Em: MEANING… After those two hours we have many more hours, and we're not starting them out like this… I've had a bad day, and I'm pulling rank. (She flops down in a chair) We're eating and that's it. Sit down. Both of you. (She picks up a menu off the table and opens it, mostly for show) We've got a long road ahead of us.

The Chimera, Somewhere in the Black Sea.

Helena is standing on the decking, looking unimpressed. Ari is doing his best not to appear uncomfortable and she glares at him.

Helena: Tell me, Ari… Do you go out of your WAY to recruit imbeciles?

Ari: She caught him off guard.

Helena: There should be no such thing.

Ari: He DID find her!

Helena: He had a string of… I believe it's called “dumb luck”… if he had been following Nikolas more closely, he wouldn't have spotted Miss Quartermaine exiting the hotel and wouldn't have been able to bribe the desk clerk into telling us everything he knew… It was fortuitous, but it was not skill.

Ari: Well, your suspicions were correct, Nikolas' whereabouts are still unknown.

Helena: We're out of options. You realize that?

Ari: I thought you were convinced he'd go to the island.

Helena: Yes, and his uncle may very well choose to go there himself! Our last best chance was to get to him after he left Rome and before he reached the compound, and you've bungled it.

Ari: The girl…

Helena: Oh, don't give me that! She's related to Corrine, how smart could she possibly be?

Ari: She's also spent the last three years of her life with Lucky Spencer and you've repeatedly told me that he's not to be underestimated.

Helena: My, my, Ari… That sounded suspiciously like talking back!

Ari: I apologize. Not just for that, but for Rome as well. You must know, however, that we still are several steps ahead of your son.

Helena: (irritated) Of course we are! Please, that sentimental fool has never had the stomach to do what must be done. Once news of Nikolas' disappearance reaches his sensitive ears there won't be enough Buddhist Monasteries in the world to calm him. (Ari frowns. Helena waves a dismissive hand) I swear, that boy strives to find new ways to embarrass me. If anyone had told me the chances of one of MY children seeking “inner peace” through that bizarre eastern… Whatever it is… why, I would have…

Ari: Had them drawn and quartered? (Helena laughs, deep in her throat)

Helena: Ari, PLEASE! It's the cusp of the twenty-first century. (She cocks her head to one side) Beheaded, perhaps?

Ari: To each one's own. (Helena laughs and approaches him, laying a hand on his cheek. After a moment, Ari lowers his head and kisses her dutifully. Helena pulls back, meeting his eyes. She pats his cheek affectionately)

Helena: Don't disappoint me again, Ari. I like your head right where it is.