Chapter 36: Lean on me

"Lucky," Elizabeth breathed in as she heard the whispery voice, the one she hadn't heard in nearly 6 months.

"Yeah," Lucky agreed quietly. "Look, Elizabeth," he suddenly rushed, feeling that he had to hurry and say what he had to say before he ran out of time. He didn't have time to continue, though, before she cut him off.

"Where are you?" She stressed. "Your father and Stefan are on a wild goose chase looking for you!"

"Elizabeth, I don't want to be rude, but you have to be quiet and listen to me. I can't explain things to you. Not right now. Luke is with me, though," Lucky told her, knowing that she would worry less if she knew that he was safely with Luke.

And he was right. Elizabeth was taken all the way back to when Lucky had disappeared while looking for her charm bracelet. She remembered Laura's words, when Lucky's mother told her that Lucky could never be safer than when he was with his father.

"I need you, 'Lizbeth," Lucky said quietly into the phone, and Liz heard the vulnerability in his voice. "I need you more than I have ever needed anyone. You are the only one I can trust."

"What do you need me to do?" Elizabeth asked, knowing instinctively that her life would be changed forever with whatever Lucky had to ask of her.

"I am sending someone to you," Lucky said, unwilling to say the relationship he had with that person out loud, as if saying it to Elizabeth could compromise Larissa's safety. "I need you to take care of her. She is my life, Elizabeth," Lucky said in a whisper, "she is everything to me. If something were to happen to her..."

Lucky felt Luke's hand on his shoulder. Luke knew that Lucky was getting too worked up about having to send his daughter to the other side of the world, and he needed his son to calm down. They had to get Larissa out of the warzone as soon as possible, and the only way to do it was for Lucky to finish this conversation in record speed.

"Anyway," Lucky said after he was able to compose himself for a second or two, "will you?"

"Take care of her how, Lucky?" Liz asked, unsure about what was asked of her.

"Give her shelter," Lucky answered, "protect her, make sure she has everything she needs."

"Who IS she?"

Lucky smiled into the phone, knowing that Elizabeth didn't want to think that Lucky was heartless enough to send his new girlfriend to his old one, but it was also clear that Elizabeth had no other idea about what this was all about.

"You will know when she gets there. A friend of mine will make sure she gets to you safely -- if you accept to take her in -- and he will explain everything to you."

"Why are you being so mysterious, Lucky?" Liz asked softly.

"Because I want her to reach you alive," Lucky whispered achingly. His voice broke as he said the next words to her. "Please, Elizabeth," he pleaded with a tremor in his voice, something Liz interpreted as the only thing he could do to keep from crying, "you are the only hope I have of seeing her get out of this mess alive."

"Send her to me," Elizabeth agreed. "I will make sure she is safe until you can come for her."

"Oh, thank you!" Lucky exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. "I will forever love you, Elizabeth."

"I love you, too," Liz replied, although she knew that his words were words of gratitude. "When should I expect her?"

"As soon as possible. My friend will send you a note to let you know where to reach him. You need to be alone when you get her, Elizabeth. Her life depends on it. Promise me that no one is going to know about her."

Elizabeth heard the urgency in his voice and readily agreed. "Give me a day to get everything ready here, and they will be on their way to you." Lucky told her.

"Okay," she replied, for lack of a better response.

"Thank you," Lucky repeated before he hung up. He had already talked to her longer than he had expected. When he hung up the phone, he turned to his father and Andreas. "Elizabeth has agreed to take her in. Now we need to plan Andreas' trip."

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

"And how do you expect me to do that, Mother?" Roy asked Helena.

"You are Luke's best friend. He will trust you."

"And how am I suppose to explain to him that he needs to stay here instead of going back to his family and friends?" Roy shot back.

"Why, to plan my demise, of course!"

"Fine, then how am I suppose to explain why I am not calling Luke to tell him of his son's whereabouts?"

"Hmmm," Helena said and winced as she tried to sit up. "You think of something. All of these painkillers they insist on giving me are turning my brain to liquid."

Roy actually sighed in relief at this point. Pretending to be on her side while talking on the phone to her was one thing. Sitting beside her was quite another. He wasn't sure he would be able to continue this masquerade.

By now, he knew that Luke had to know about his family relation to Helena, and Luke probably decided to eat Roy's eyeballs for breakfast when he heard. He would never believe that Roy had been working against Helena, all while trying to make her think that he was on her side. His head was hurting just thinking about the reception Luke was going to have for him next time they saw each other.

But it had been something he had had to do. The only way anyone could get to Helena was through someone she already trusted. Helena never trusted anyone but Mikkos, Stavros and her first born son. Now, it was only Roy who would be able to bring her down and make sure that she stayed down.

Before he could do that, though, he had to make sure that Lucky and his daughter were protected. He couldn't very well just put a pillow over Helena's face. That would leave things unfinished for Luke and his family. He wanted the Spencers to have the revenge they were intitled to. He wanted them to savor every moment of Helena's downfall. And to be able to give them that very gift, he needed a bit more time.

Right now, he needed Helena to understand that he couldn't get near Lucky without getting himself killed. So he pushed the issue further. "Besides, " he added, "I think that Lucky would probably be suspicious on why I want to help him, since he has been back for a year and I haven't even worked to get closer to him. "

Helena didn't answer and Roy realized that she had dozed off. "Sleep well, mother, " he whispered. "I will be back to see you later. "

When he stepped outside of her room, he came face to face with his mother's boy toy. "If you need help, " Ari offered, "I'm willing to pitch in. Lucky trusts me, Mr. Cassadine. He will trust you if I say that you are a friend of mine. "

Roy saw something twitch in the man's eye and, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what that was all about. It was as if that man, Ari, if he remembered correctly, was reluctant in leading him to Lucky. Could his mother be so wrong about her boy toy and that Lucky had an ally so close to his enemy?

"I'll be sure to call for assistance if I ever need it, " Roy said without promising anything. "Although I doubt that my mother will want me to work with someone whom Luke can't trust, and therefore risk destroying the whole mission. "

"Well, please know that you have someone who can work on Lucky, " Ari assured, although he felt like throwing up. He had thoroughly forgotten about Roy's plan to destroy the Spencers, and, now that he was here, Ari had to tell Lucky and Luke right away.

"Well, maybe you can help me, " Roy said suddenly, wanting to test where the man's loyalty lied. "Take me to Lucky, right away. "