Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six:
It Takes Two to Tango

Jason's Penthouse.

Carly and Jason lock eyes. She feels a bit like a deer caught in really cold headlights. She turns her attention back to her son.

Carly: (coaxing) Michael… Do you remember your Uncle Jason?

Jason: (calling) Graciela! (Carly freezes, holding Michael a little tighter, while reminding herself that he didn't call for Renaldo. Graciela appears in the doorway from the kitchen)

Graciela: Yes, Mr. Morgan?

Jason: Do we have any juice?

Graciela: (spotting Michael) Yes. Yes, we do. (She smiles at Michael) Good afternoon, young man. (She crosses to him) I remember you from your visits with Miss Emily! (Michael looks at her a moment, then smiles slowly.) And yes, we have some nice things in the kitchen for you. (She looks at Carly) Has he eaten?

Carly: (defensively) Of course he's eaten. (She stops, realizing how harsh she sounded) He could have a small snack, just nothing with too much sugar. (Graciela puts out a hand and Carly lets Michael down to the floor so that he can take the kind woman's hand. She looks up at Carly and gives her an equally nice and reassuring smile)

Graciela: We can have some cheese and crackers and perhaps a little apple juice? (Carly nods quickly, turning her attention back to Jason who is not looking at either Michael or her, but at a spot on the wall behind her. Graciela, taking a quick peek at her boss's expression, decides to make haste) Come with me, Master Michael, we'll let Mommy visit, shall we? (She leads the little boy off, leaving Carly with Jason. Jason still doesn't look at her once they have departed. Carly shifts her weight. This is going even worse than last time).

Carly: (uncomfortable) This is… I barely looked at this place the last time I was here, it's so…

Jason: Why did you bring him here.

Carly: Uhh… I thought you'd like to see him. (Jason turns and stares at her with undisguised, though barely contained rage)

Jason: You're using him.

Carly: (flushing) I am not!

Jason: You came here alone and you didn't get the answers you wanted, so you thought if you brought him here…

Carly: That maybe you'd let me in? Well, yeah. That occurred to me. That maybe you'd be a little less rigid, sure. But that is not the only reason I brought him.

Jason: Really.

Carly: Well, it's a weekend, one of the few days I don't have Day Care for him… (She stops and clears her throat at the feebleness of the excuse) And… Well, I know it's been a long time since you saw him and…

Jason: (turning away) I don't have anything to say to you.

Carly: Jason! (He turns back, his jaw tense and folds his arms across his chest)

Jason: What do you want, Carly?

Carly: (pushing her hair behind her ears) I wish you'd stop looking at me like that.

Jason: You don't want to do this, you don't have to. You were worried about Lucky, I understood that. But I told you what there was to tell, we're done.

Carly: Jason…

Jason: (agitated) Why are you here? What are you trying to do? (Carly takes a step back. God. Jason was never this tense when she lived with him.)

Carly: I just wanted to talk to you…

Jason: So this isn't about Michael, is it?

Carly: Not really…

Jason: (brutally) Then you shouldn't have brought him here.

Carly: You know… Even after you made it really clear you didn't want to share air with me, I did make sure you still saw him, you know? I mean… I ASKED Emily to bring him over here for you all those months, did she tell you that? (Jason pauses a moment)

Jason: No. (Carly lets out a breath, aware she just scored a point)

Carly: When she stopped talking to me… That wasn't possible anymore. But I wasn't trying to take him away from you…

Jason: (angrily) You DID take him away, you moved out, you took him to the Quartermaines, then you turned around and did the same thing to AJ.

Carly: Whoa… You must be mad at me if you're going to start defending AJ!

Jason: I understand what you did to him.

Carly: Yeah? Do you understand what he was going to do to me? Don't try to make me feel guilty, Jason, it won't work.

Jason: I'm not trying to do anything but get you to cut this out! You wanna ask me something, then ask. But don't come over here and use Michael to get to me!

Carly: That's not what I'm doing!

Jason: Yeah? Then what are you doing?

Carly: God (she puts a hand to her head) Do you just want nothing to do with him anymore? I mean… Do you WANT to never see him again?

Jason: (looking away) No.

Carly: I thought you'd want to…

Jason: (looking back at her) What do you want? (Carly stares at him a long moment. They've never REALLY talked about this. She takes a hesitant step towards him. He backs up. She sighs, looking down at the floor).

Carly: I never should have… (She shakes her head) Lying forever, I can do that. I should have. I should have just swallowed all the crap you asking me to except and stayed here because it was what was best for Michael, I honestly believe that. (She makes a face) The state should really consider just ruling on mass serialization for the whole family, I lived there six months, and I could all ready see that. I took Michael out of that house for completely different reasons than…

Jason: Than you took him away from me?

Carly: (clearing her throat) Yeah, I guess. I guess… I told myself that it was the right thing to do because… AJ has his moments, you know? I mean… Michael wouldn't be here if he didn't. (Jason frowns at her. Carly shrugs, crossing her arms) That might be the closest thing to a blush I'm ever seen on you?

Jason: (shrugging, squinting at the opposite wall) Why would I care?

Carly: Because… it's about Michael.

Jason: It's about you and that guy who keeps calling me his brother. Michael didn't come along for months.

Carly: Yeah. But AJ is a big part of why he came along at all. He is the father. (Jason tenses)

Jason: Because he slept with you. (He glances back at her) You didn't used to think that.

Carly: You want to know what I thought? I thought… Your parents should love each other. My parents didn't. Not really. I thought maybe… AJ could love me. And I thought I might be able to love him. (She sits down on the arm of the couch, laughing slightly) Boy, was I wrong.

Jason: Why are you telling me this?

Carly: (after a long moment) I thought maybe it would be good for him to know at least ONE of his male relatives besides Luke…

Jason: (coldly) You've been talking to Luke.

Carly: He's been talking to me, is more like it.

Jason: So that's why you're here?

Carly: Jason…

Jason: This is about Lucky, right?

Carly: (taking a deep breath) You know, in light of what we were just talking about…

Jason: So you DID bring him here to get something from me.

Carly: NO! Man, JASON. Sit down a second, will you?

Jason: (angrily) You're just… You do the same damn things over and over again, Carly.

Carly: Look at me! Jason. I did not bring Michael over here to make you do anything, ok? You know when I'm lying, am I lying right now? (Jason doesn't answer. She sighs) I had to come over here, Luke asked me to. I wasn't going to bring Michael, I was going to ask Bobbie to take him, but I thought… I thought you'd LIKE to see him. I thought it would be good for you, and yeah, I thought it would be good for him. You were always good with him, Jason. AJ… God, that whole family, they are all so TOTALLY high strung… You're not like that. So that is why I brought him. (Jason stares at him a long moment, then steps towards her. He freezes, then turns away, rigid).

Jason: What does Luke want?

Carly: He thinks you know where Lucky is.

Jason: (flatly) I don't.

Carly: Did you? (Jason says nothing) I know what that means. You did.

Jason: Are you done?

Carly: Do you know HOW to find him? Come Jason, anything… a name, a bank account, anything!

Jason: Why?

Carly: Because Luke needs to find him!

Jason: Luke and Lucky aren't getting along right now.

Carly: (looking at him like he's crazy) How do you know that?

Jason: I've seen them fight.

Carly: People fight, Jason… It doesn't mean they don't love each other.

Jason: I know that!

Carly: Well, trust me on this one… Luke loves Lucky more than just about anything. And he doesn't know where he is.

Jason: He's safe.

Carly: That's what you said last time!

Jason: (turning back, angry) Then why are you asking me again? (Carly crosses to him, agitated)

Carly: Because! Because Luke can't just leave it at that and neither can I! He wants Lucky to come home, he doesn't want him to do something stupid! He wants to make sure that Lucky knows where they really stand and he can't do that unless he can find him. (She stands, less that a foot away from him, her hands on her hips. Jason, aware of the proximity and not at all comfortable about it, has to stop himself from retreating. Retreating from Carly is not something he makes a habit of).

Jason: Lucky will do what he has to do. That has nothing to do with me.

Carly: So what? What is he supposed to do? Just wait for Lucky to decide to come home?

Jason: (exploding) Lucky isn't COMING back!

Carly: What?

Jason: (catching both his breath and the fact that he just spilt something pretty major) I… (He turns away, heading back across the room) Tell him to forget it, ok? You can't spend your whole life running after something that doesn't want you to catch it.

Carly: (following) “It”? Jason, it's his son! And what do you mean he's not coming back?

Jason: Leave Carly.

Carly: No, you know something, don't you? Jason?

Jason: I don't know where he is, not right now.

Carly: But you did.

Jason: Carly…

Carly: Just tell me what you meant!

Jason: You don't think I notice anything, do you?

Carly: Jase, don't be crazy. I know you notice stuff. You notice more than anyone else I've ever seen.

Jason: Ok. Well… I noticed one thing this last year… my sister is not happy.

Carly: (swallowing hard) Jason…?

Jason: She's not going to be happy as long as she is stuck here, she doesn't want to be here, she's told me that.

Carly: Uh huh.

Jason: Tell Luke that Lucky will only come back when he decides too.

Carly: Are you helping him? I mean… He can't have that much money…

Jason: (firmly) He never has to come back. Neither of them do. They can go wherever makes them happy. I made sure of that. And that IS all I know.

Carly: (stunned) What did you do?

Jason: We're finished. (Jason turns and heads into the kitchen. Carly stares after him, trying to put the pieces together).

Carly: (staring after him) Maybe you are… But I've got the feeling I'm just getting started.

Wyndemere.

Alexis gets to her feet, staring at the man with a mixture of shock and extreme annoyance.

Alexis: (quietly) Would you please run that by me again, I just want to make sure that you indeed just came in here and made my life that much more complicated.

Chief: (removing his hat) We… We lost Mrs. Spencer.

Alexis: (demanding) How?

Chief: She must have realized she was being followed! She'd gone to the grocery store with the little girl, then on the way home, she suddenly sped up, tried to lose the car. They just… Well, they gave chase, of course, but then… (He shakes his head) She was just gone. (Alexis lets a sigh go in relief)

Alexis: If she has a trunk full of groceries, then she must be going… (She stops and closes her eyes) Oh God… She must want us to THINK she'd have to go home. (She looks back at him) How long ago did this happen?

Chief: Well, we thought she'd come home!

Alexis: OH, of COURSE you did, that's what she wanted you to think! And you fell right into it! (She puts a hand to her forehead) You realize, these are the Spencers, right? The woman spent half her married life running across the country with a small child! She's done this before.

Chief: She has no reason to run…

Alexis: (muttering) Since when has reason stopped Laura from doing anything? (She moves to the desk) When did this happen?

Chief: An… Well, almost two hours ago now.

Alexis: (looking up sharply) What?

Chief: I told you, we thought… Well, we thought she'd just assume she was being followed by Helena, or… Well, there are so MANY choices.

Alexis: (flipping open her laptop) Somehow I get the feeling she knew exactly who she'd be alluding.

Chief: Well, we have men at Kelly's, her sister and sister-in-law's houses and the Ward House. She would most likely go to those places if she thought she were in trouble.

Alexis: She'd go to Luke, and that's only if she actually believed that she were in danger. (She types an access code into the computer and waits a moment, staring off into space) I knew Stefan shouldn't have told her about Nikolas. It's not as if she would have NOTICED. (She presses her lips together, aware that her words came out a little more bitter than intended. But then, she's never been one to sign up the Laura Spencer Pity Party.) Excuse me. (She turns her attention tot he computer. After a moment's hesitation the security head turns to leave) I didn't dismiss you. (He freezes, then turns back)

Chief: I'm sorry, Miss Davis.

Alexis: Ms. (She locates the file she's looking for and puts in a disk) You lost Mrs. Spencer, you have less than half an hour to get a lead on finding her. (She hits another couple of buttons, then ejects the disk. She stands up and crosses to him, handing him the disk) Time is of the essence, the last thing my brother needs right now is to have his focus split, I want to have a concrete answer for him when I tell him about this.

Chief: (taking the disk) Yes, Ma'am. (He looks down at it in confusion) What…

Alexis: That is a list of all known Spencer aliases, active and inactive. I want you to search out any activity under any of those names and let me know the moment you turn anything up. I'll be waiting.

Chief: I'll set a team working on it immediately.

Alexis: Good. (Turning away) God knows they can't have anything else to do. There's no one left to guard.

Chief: (momentarily confused) Then… I'll… I'll just be…

Alexis: I said you have half an hour. You'd better get to work. (He nods quick and back away from her)

Chief: Of course, Ms. Davis. (He turns and departs. Alexis leans her elbow on the mantle of the fireplace and lets her eyes close a moment.)

Alexis: God, I need a Tylenol.

Nikolas' Hotel Room, Eyio.

Nikolas wakes up, vaguely aware of a sound. A sound…? Irritating, unrelenting sort of thudding noise… knocking! Damn. He sits up and looks at the door blearily. This is not going to be room service. What the hell is going on? He shakes his head and supposes Emily might be feeling the need to make some kind of gesture, just to let him know he's not being COMPLETELY ignored. Nice gesture, bad timing. He swears in Russian under his breath, and gets up, crosses the room unsteadily. He pulls the door open, still unable to summon anything resembling a smile.

Doesn't much matter because, upon seeing his visitor, his jaw drops slightly. He stands up straight, squinting at Lucky blearily, then turns from the door, leaving it open in invitation.

Nik: I thought you'd be asleep.

Lucky: I thought you'd be awake.

Nik: (Sitting back on the bed) And do what?

Lucky: Good point. (Lucky glances around the room, noting that it's even smaller than the one he's sharing with Emily… if that's possible. There is little in the room to convincingly hold his attention. That fact makes him immediately and acutely aware of the fact that the last thing he wants to do is actually look at Nikolas. His eyes fall on the box, set in the center of the chest of drawers. He hesitates a long moment, then walks towards the box, looking at it. Nikolas, aware that Lucky hasn't actually given a reason for being here. Lucky studies the crest on the top of the box.) You're going to do this with her.

Nik: (lying back on the bed, noting he has the beginnings of a headache) Do what with who?

Lucky: The ashes. When you spread them, you'll do it with Emily, right?

Nik: That is what I said.

Lucky: Yeah… I just wondering why you didn't mention it to her earlier… I mean, you had a chance. (Nikolas, feeling a little light headed and irritable from being waken up, chuckles to himself)

Nik: It's not something you bring up over drinks at a cafe… Oh, Emily… by the way, I had your aunt cremated without your permission and I thought we'd go spread the ashes out in some rock off the island where the family that had her executed lives… By the way, I'm sorry you lost a whole night's sleep because my grandmother tracked you down and you had to climb out a window and sneak across a roof in the middle of the night to make sure that she didn't see you so that I could get out of this stupid mess I'm in, thanks. (Lucky stares at him a long moment)

Lucky: (more in response to Nikolas' state than to his words) What?

Nik: (glancing over at him) She didn't tell you about that.

Lucky: About the roof and the phone call, yeah. She told me yesterday after dinner. I didn't know she told you.

Nik: (closing his eyes) Did you see her wrists?

Lucky: Yeah.

Nik: So did I. (pause)

Lucky: I wasn't aware you were being that observant.

Nik: (sitting up) What ARE you aware of, Lucky? (Lucky's jaw tenses)

Lucky: I'm aware that we have to talk.

Nik: What about? (Lucky shakes his head slowly, taking him in)

Lucky: What are you doing, man?

Nik: (shrugging) I'm not doing anything?

Lucky: Kinda my point.

Nik: Ohhh… I get it. You cornered the market on moody and unpredictable behavior, huh? (Lucky stares at him a moment, not blinking or making any move to let Nikolas know that stung. He sighs and turns to the door)

Lucky: Yeah, it's been fun. See ya.

Nik: Lucky! (Lucky stops) You're right, ok? Is that what you wanted me to say?

Lucky: (turning back) I don't really care what you say. (Nikolas rolls his eyes)

Nik: Haven't I heard this song before? I know, you don't care, I don't care. No one cares. Then what the hell are we doing here?

Lucky: Saving the free world… Or just our right to our own free will. Whatever.

Nik: (leaning forward, head in his hands) Right. That.

Lucky: (after a moment, slightly concerned) You ok?

Nik: Fine. (He glances up at him) You?

Lucky: Solid ground agrees with me. You look… (He stops a moment) You sure you're up to the rest of this?

Nik: And if I wasn't?

Lucky: (lightly) You can bail. But if you do, I'd want to know.

Nik: I'm not “bailing”.

Lucky: Good to know.

Nik: God, I mean… We've come this far.

Lucky: (smirking) You noticed. (Nikolas looks up at him)

Nik: Forty-eight hours ago I was having dinner with these really refined friends of my uncle in Rome… Now I'm in a shoebox masquerading as a hotel room trying to figure out what I'm doing next.

Lucky: (grabbing the chair) You're going to Disneyland.

Nik: (beyond confused) What? (Lucky flips the chair back to front and sits down in it, facing Nikolas, his arms on the back)

Lucky: Don't you any sense of adventure?

Nik: What… Did I just say I didn't?

Lucky: (nodding towards the bed) You ever slept in a place like this before?

Nik: It's a palace compared to the hold.

Lucky: (laughing) Oh, come on. No one got any sleep there.

Nik: There is no pea under my mattress, if that's what you're getting at.

Lucky: (lightly) Wouldn't matter. You're not a princess. (Nikolas stares at him a long moment, then laughs slightly)

Nik: You sure you're not rushing to judgment?

Lucky: (conceding) You could be whining more.

Nik: Yeah. And I guess you could be more obnoxious?

Lucky: You think? I guess I haven't been trying hard enough. (Nikolas looks at Lucky suspiciously a moment, then laughs)

Nik: Is Emily slipping Prozac in your water? (Lucky looks off towards the small window) What… (He shakes his head. Getting too close to honesty there) Never mind. I didn't ask.

Lucky: (after a moment) Emily… We should probably listen to her more. (Nikolas stares at him, looking for signs of malice)

Nik: (slowly) I can do that. She makes more sense than you do, at least.

Lucky: At least you can understand the words I'm stringing together.

Nik: Invest in a thesaurus.

Lucky: I'm feeling magnanimous so I'll permit that particular aspersion to pass without altercation. (He looks at Nikolas, an ever so slightly cocky grin on his face) I wasn't raised in a ditch, you know.

Nik: Yeah… And I wasn't raised in an ivory tower.

Lucky: That's not what I hear.

Nik: You'll get to see it soon enough.

Lucky: Yeah, well… (Glances around the room) I guess you're getting to see the kinds of places I grew up in.

Nik: Places like this?

Lucky: Three nights, three locations. (He smiles bitterly) Who says you can't go home again. (They fall into silence a moment. This is, Nikolas realizes, about as close to friendly as they've ever been. He wonders if this is Lucky's way for apologizing for the box thing the night before. He looks back at him)

Nik: So does this mean we're talking? (Lucky grips the back of the chair and pushes himself back, eyeing Nikolas cautiously)

Lucky: It means… We got a few more nights of this stuff and… (He sighs and reaches around, pulling the gun he picked up from Theo from the back of his waistband) We have to understand each other… And just how far the other is willing to go. (He toss the gun onto the bed spread and looks at Nikolas who stares at the gun, then back at Lucky) How far do you go, Nikolas? (Nikolas sees, clearly, that this is a test. He looks at Lucky a long moment, then down at the gun. He reaches out, carefully, and picks the gun up. He turns it over in his hands a few times.)

Nik: (quietly, not looking up) As far as I have to.

Lucky: Ok. Then I guess we just figure out a way to do that.