Chapter 31: Getting to know you

"You asked for me?" Ari inquired as he walked into Helena Cassadine's hospital room.

"Yes, I did! Where were you?" Helena snapped. It had been 10 minutes since Faison had gone and look for the man. "You were needed here!"

"I'm sorry, Madam," Ari said as he looked down to the floor, not wanting to enrage Helena further. "I went with young Master Spencer down to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee to prevent him from killing that doctor. I did not know that you were looking for me. If I had, I would not have been far."

"Faison said that he saw you by the baby's window. Is that true?" Helena asked, but more gently this time.

"Yes, it is. On our way back here, the nurse told Lucky that his baby was born, so while he was in here with you, I went to see what your baby looked like."

"And what does it look like?" Helena asked, searching the man's eyes carefully.

"I do not know, Madam," Ari said. " There was a doctor inside with them by the time I got there, and when the man left, I did, too, failing to see the baby."

"So it wasn't you," Helena sighed. If it had been Ari, he wouldn't have had the time to go put the baby in a safe place, hire someone to tend to it while he came back here talk to her. "Very well, you may go."

"Do you still need me tonight? I don't mind staying near if you need my assistance." Ari said gently.

"No, but I want you to go to the house and make sure that Lucky does not do anything stupid. His baby died, and I am afraid that he might try to do something foolish like try to go back to the States."

"I'm sorry to hear about the baby, Madam." Ari said solemnly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Helena said with a wave of her hand. "The baby will die as soon as Faison finds her."

"Finds her? Forgive me for asking, but where is she?" Ari asked, puzzled.

"We don't know. Someone kidnapped her. I am afraid that person is on Lucky's side. I want you to contact Roslyi and ask him where Luke and Stefan are. I want to make sure that neither of them are close enough to have been able to snatch the baby from its cradle. After that, go home and do that nauseating thing you do so well" Helena said dismissingly.

"And what's that, Madam?" Ari asked curiously

"Pretend to be Lucky Spencer's friend."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"But it's been months, Nikolas! How can Luke and Stefan not have found him yet?" A very worried Elizabeth asked. "We know what your grandmother is capable of!"

"She isn't my grandmother," Nikolas couldn't help but grin. Ever since he came to Port Charles he had been ashamed of having Helena as a grandmother. Now, since he wasn't even a Cassadine, he was not related to the old witch and he was delighted about it.

Elizabeth sighed as she scrubbed the counter at Kelly's. "Still," Elizabeth allowed, "if Lucky is with... her, who knows what she did to him by now " These past few months had been hell for Elizabeth. Just as things had started to go a little better between her and Lucky, he had disappeared overnight with Helena Cassadine. Nikolas had pressed Stefan for answers, but the man who had raised him had refused to say anything about what he knew, or didn't know. All he said was that he would go look for the young man and bring him home. So far, Stefan had failed on both counts.

"I know, Elizabeth, but what else can we do but wait here?" Nikolas asked gently. "If Luke and Stefan are unable to find him, what makes you think we will?"

"I don't know, but it would be better than just sit around here and do nothing, don't you think?" Elizabeth countered. "I mean, this waiting is killing me! Who knows what she is doing to him again"

"Again?" Nikolas asked gently. "Do you know something I don't?" Elizabeth bit her lip. She had talked too much. Lucky had told her what had happened in confidence, and had told her that Lulu might die if she told anyone. But now, when Lucky was with Helena again, did that still count?

"Nothing, Nikolas. " Elizabeth sighed. She wouldn't have felt right to betray Lucky's confidence, even now that he was gone. "I can't stay around here and do nothing! Do you want to do something tonight? Do you want to call Emily and catch a movie or something?"

"Elizabeth, what are you hiding from me? What do you know about Lucky that I don't?" Nikolas asked, unable and unwilling to let go.

"I can't tell you, Nikolas. I promised Lucky not to tell anyone. All I can say is that in the months that he was gone, he has been with Helena."

"And now? Why is he with her?" Nikolas asked more gently

"I don't know, but I sure wish I did," Elizabeth said heartbrokenly.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"I think that she's getting hungry," Lucky said after a while to his best friend. "Where is that place you want to take her to?"

Ari looked down at the fussy baby with a tender smile. She really was a beautiful child. She looked gentle, and peaceful. Well, that was before she decided that she was hungry.

"It's not far from here. It's an old cottage on this propriety. I used to go there when I didn't want to be found by Helena, and I had it ready for anything. We'll have to make her sleep in a drawer for the time being, since I didn't have time to go buy a cradle or a crib. The only thing I was able to buy were diapers, bottles, some clothes and formula. It'll have to do for now."

"Thanks, my friend. I don't know what I would've done without you." Lucky said honestly, quickly embracing his friend before they went to the cottage. "Do you think she'll be safe in a drawer?"

"Of course. We only have to put a little pillow on the bottom and have her sleep on it. She's still too small to move, so she'll be fine. My mother used to make my brother and I sleep in drawers when she visited friends and we came out just fine." Ari assured with a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't say fine..." Lucky teased his friend. "It'll have to do for now. Tomorrow, we'll go buy what we need for her."

"We won't be able to. Helena was probably notified that the baby is missing by now, and she'll have people watching our every move."

"Speaking of Helena, won't she wonder why you are not at the hospital?" Lucky asked, suddenly concerned.

"No, she won't. Because I am at the hospital." Ari assured.

"No, you're not." Lucky replied.

"Not anymore," they heard as they entered the cottage and saw Ari sitting on the couch next to the wall.

"What?" Lucky asked, his eyes going from the Ari at the door and the Ari sitting on the couch. "What are you doing here?" Ari asked as he walked to the couch. "I thought that you were suppose to make sure Helena saw you?"

"I did. She sent me home after she was assured that I wasn't the one who took the baby." The second Ari replied.

"Oh, I get it," Lucky chuckled. "So he's your back up plan?"

"Yeah," Ari grinned. "I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out. Lucky, meet my twin brother, Andreas. Bro, meet my friend Lucky."

"Hi," Andreas grinned.

"Hey. Thanks for helping me," Lucky said as he gave the baby to Ari and went to prepare the formula. She was getting down right nasty about not getting fed. "It's my pleasure, really. Ari has been looking for a way to include me in his quest to destroy the old witch. I'll stay here with the baby while he gets seen around her. Tonight we took a risk when he sent me, but he thought that you would be able to tell the difference when we spoke if I was the one to approach you with the baby. He said that you know him better than anyone but me."

"He's right," Lucky agreed, watching his best friend trying to soothe the hungry child. Ari was singing something in a soft voice, and Lucky smiled. His daughter might not have a mother anymore, but she would never lack attention with all these men around.

"You might have to hurry with that milk, Lucky," Ari said with a smile. "She's getting real mad."

"It's done," Lucky said as he walked to his friend. He sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room and Ari placed the screaming baby in her father's arms. "There, Larissa," Lucky cooed as he gave the bottle to the baby. As soon as her lips closed she quieted down and started sucking.

"She was really hungry," Andreas said with a tender smile as he watched his new friend rock his drinking daughter.

"Yeah, she was. She's going at it greedily, let me tell you," Lucky laughed as he watched his daughter, his miracle, the love of his life. Ari smiled as he told his brother to come with him in the other room, wanting to give his friend some privacy.

"I promise you, Larissa," Lucky said as he kissed the drinking baby's forehead, "nothing bad will ever happen to you again. Only good things. I'll put my life on the line to protect you." A few hours later, when the lights were off and soft snoring sounds were heard in the little cottage, Lucky got up and walked to his daughter's makeshift bed. His eyes were red and his hair was messy. His face showed A trace of deep slumber and he rubbed his eyes to take the sleepiness out of them as he heated his daughter's bottle. For the first time today he actually believed his daughter could come out alive of this ordeal. With Ari keeping up appearances with Helena, and Andreas staying with the baby when Lucky had to go see Helena and make her believe that he was still grieving, they had all their bases covered. When the baby was a little older, in a month or so, he would send a message to his father to come and take her away from here and have her hidden in Port Charles somewhere safe. While Stefan would take care of her, Lucky would ask Luke to help him terminate Faison and Helena's lives. He would've let them live with what they did to him, but Lucky could not let them live and, by doing so, risk his daughter's life at every moment. She deserved more than a life on the run like he had had.

Taking the bottle to the rocking chair he picked his daughter up, changed her diaper and sat down. Cradling her in his arms, he started rocking while she ate. "I love you," Lucky whispered to his wide awake child. "I love you with everything that I am, everything that I ever will be. My love for you not only comes from my heart, it comes from my soul, from every fiber of my being. You are my life, Larissa. Always know that."

The little girl looked up to where the voice was coming and Lucky could have sworn their eyes locked for a brief moment. Taking the bottle away from her mouth he gently placed her on his shoulder and gently rubbed her back until she burped. When she sighed, he placed her back in the crook of his arm to give her the rest of her meal. He had read somewhere that, usually, babies this small would fall asleep from the sucking effort. Apparently, someone had forgotten to mention this to his daughter as she stared at him, her eyes anything but sleepy. "Ok, that's enough, there's no more," Lucky said with a chuckle as she continued sucking after she emptied the bottle. He gave her the pacifier and burped her again, before he continued rocking her. He lifted her head to his lips and gently kissed her tiny forehead. A teary smile came to his lips as he felt her little closed fist rest on his cheek. "Oh god, child, I love you."

Larissa made a sound and started wiggling in his arms. "You're getting tired, aren't you?" He whispered and started rocking a little stronger, before he started humming a lullaby. As he hummed, a song he had heard a couple of months ago came back to him and he thought hard to remember the words. Finally, they came back to him and he started singing, his foot making sure to keep the same rocking tempo.

"Sleep tight," Lucky whispered as he put his sleeping daughter back in her bed of fortune. "Dreams of Gold."