Fast Forward In Time - Chapter 8

Thursday, April 26th, 2007
England

Faison was in his car being driven to his new home thinking about Lucky. He wondered how he was doing, if he was okay. Through the years he had come to respect and admire the boy. He had so much will and strength of mind. He was still amazed that he never gave up until the very end, and even then he was more concerned about the woman he loved then he was about himself. He was ready to die for her. Faison loved his own wife very much, but he didn't know if that love would have endured the separation that Lucky and Elizabeth had dealt with. He knew that he had softened over the years, at least when it came to Lucky, and that when he arrived to his new home his authority among his guards would be questioned and tested. He knew that releasing Lucky would make them less fearful of him. The thing was he didn't care. For the first time in his life he had done something good. If he were found it could easily get him thrown in jail or even murdered, and he simply didn't care. He just hoped that with time everyone, especially Lucky, would be better. He needed it to clear his heavy conscience. He didn't feel sorry for what he had done eight years ago, he didn't see the point. He did what he did and now it was over.

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Madrid

Elizabeth walked over to her bed and pulled the box out from underneath it.

Lucky reached over and took it from her, "Oh my God!" he looked at the box and then back to her, "You painted this to look like our boxcar?" he asked her softly.

"Yeah," she sat in the middle of the bed crossed legged, he did the same facing her laying the box between them, "Open it." she said smiling, handing him the key.

He unlocked it and pulled the hinged lid back. As he looked inside he became overwhelmed and began to cry. "You, you kept everything." he said looking at her. It was a statement, not a question.

She pulled the box sideways so she could reach inside. The first thing she pulled out was the New York City subway token she had given him as a sign of their future together. "They found this on the body." she said taking a deep breath. "I had it polished to get the charring off."

Lucky had been watching the token sway back and forth as it hung from her hand before he gingerly took it from her and stared at it. "I don't remember them removing it from my neck. I must have been passed out already."

Elizabeth took it back and leaned over so she could place it around his neck. "Lucky and Liz, together forever." she said crying.

Lucky reached up and stroked her cheek, "Forever."

Elizabeth started pulling the contents out of the box for Lucky to see. The memories of their times together were rushing back as they laughed and cried. He came across an old piece of paper that had ‘Liz + Lucky' with a heart around it, "I don't remember ever seeing this before." He held it up for her to see.

Elizabeth laughed when she looked at it, "After you were gone, I would clean my house over and over again to keep myself busy. One time I actually started dusting of the pages of the books in the livingroom, and when I pulled one of the encyclopedias out this fell on the floor. I um," she tucked some hair still hanging from her bun behind her ears, "I wrote that after I got home the first night I met you. I had hidden it and completely forgotten about it."

Lucky was grinning, "Wow. That is…" He looked up from the piece of paper, "You're amazing you know that?" he leaned over and kissed her softly.

"Elizabeth, Lucky?" Nicolas said knocking on the door.

Elizabeth got up to answer the door as Lucky placed the memories back in the ‘boxcar'. "What's up?" she asked Nicolas.

As he entered the room he stared at his brother, it was still strange to see him. "Um, I didn't mean to interrupt, but we have to leave for the airport soon. Are you all packed?"

"Not yet," Elizabeth answered him. "But it'll just take a minute."

"Alright, Angela and I will meet you downstairs, okay?" he said opening the door. He was still looking at Lucky.

"Okay, see you in a bit." she said as he closed the door. She had noticed that he had been staring at Lucky. "He still can't believe that you're alive," she said taking his hand.

Lucky moved to the edge of the bed, "I know," he said squeezing her hand. "What I can't believe is how calm you are!"

Elizabeth leaned in and kissed him softly, "I never believed you were dead. So, I have an advantage over everyone else." She crouched on the floor in front of him, still holding his hand, "I always knew you were coming home."

"Always?" he questioned her.

"There were a few times that I lost hope, like on the anniversary of your…" She stopped, unable to say the word.

"I know," he said. He stood and pulled her up with him. "I could feel it every year. I could feel your pain." They were both softly crying again. "It's okay that you lost hope, Elizabeth. Eight years is a long time." He pulled her into a hug.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. She pulled back and looked at him, "Did you?"

He sighed, "Faison told me you were coming, and," he took a deep breath. "And he let me think that he was going to kill us." He shut his eyes tight and hugged her as hard as he could, "Elizabeth, I was so scared for you. I was so scared." His tears fell down his cheeks.

Elizabeth hugged him back. "It's okay," she said through her own tears, "Everything is gonna be perfect from now on."

Lucky pulled back from her and sat back down on the edge of the bed. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, "You don't understand. I don't know if I'll ever feel totally safe again. For the rest of my life I'm going to be looking over my shoulder, waiting, wondering when he'll be back."

As if on cue the phone rang, "Hello?" Elizabeth answered.

"Miss Webber, this is Terry from the front desk. I am calling to inform you that a package has arrived for you. Would you like me to have it sent up?"

"No, thank-you but I will be checking out shortly so I'll pick it up then." she replied, never having lost eye contact with Lucky.

"Okay, I will see you then." They hung up.

Elizabeth walked over and sat down next to Lucky, "I don't know what to say to make you feel better, or more secure." She pulled the note that Faison had written to her out of her pocket, "But I think this may help." She handed it to him.

Lucky took the note from her and read it. "This doesn't mean anything. After everything he has done and all this time..." He stopped and looked at her, "Let's just get back to Port Charles. We'll be safer there."

"Okay." she said as she began to pack her things.

>>>>>

When they were settled on the plane Lucky asked Elizabeth to fill him in on everything that he had missed. So she did. She told him about his parents and Lu-Lu and how they were doing. She told him about Emily meeting an older man, Dave Shepherd, that worked for a large law firm in New York and how against her familys' wishes she had married him. She told him about his Aunt Bobby marrying Jerry Jax and that the wedding had been the most beautiful thing. She told him that Sonny was still in the mob but had still managed to stay out of jail. She told him as much as she could. He was watching her the entire time. He marveled as he saw that light he had noticed through the cameras was missing from her eyes begin to reappear.

When they landed it was mid-morning in Port Charles and they were all tired. None of them had slept on the plane.

"What now?" Nicolas asked as they were leaving the airport and heading for their cars.

Elizabeth turned to Lucky, "Do you want to go see your parents right now?"

He turned to her. "Yeah, but I'd like to get cleaned up first." he said softly.

Elizabeth addressed them all. "Okay well, why don't we all meet back at my place in about an hour and then I'll call Luke and Laura and ask them to come over?"

Nicolas and Angela agreed and went off to their car.

"Come on Lucky," she said as she turned to him and took his hand. "Let's go home."

They got in her car and drove through Port Charles. She took the scenic route so Lucky could see everything. When she pulled into her driveway Lucky stared at the house. It still looked exactly the same.

"Won't your grandmother be here?" he asked her.

"She doesn't live here anymore. When she retired she gave the house to me. I still sleep in my old room. It always made me feel closer to you." she said turning to him. "Let's go inside."

They made their way from the car and into the house. Lucky followed Elizabeth up the stairs to the familiar bedroom. She still had a lot of her girlhood things, trinket boxes and figurines, around the room.

He walked over to the window and then turned to look at her, "This was where I saw you for the last time. I still remember..." He started to cry as she walked towards him, "I still remember everything."

She wrapped her arms around him as she too softly began to cry, "I remember too. There were times when I thought I heard you at my window softly knocking, waiting for me to let you in. But whenever I would open the curtains you were never there."

Lucky held on to her tightly, "I'm here now and I am never leaving again. Never!"

Elizabeth pulled back and smiled, "Why don't you go get in the shower. You can use the bathroom in here and I'll use the one in the master bedroom."

Lucky kissed her softly. "Okay." he said before leaving her side.

After he had shut the door Elizabeth heard the water running and wished she had asked him if they could shower together. She didn't want him out of her sight for even one second. She softly smiled at the thought.

>>>>>

When she reentered her bedroom she noticed that Lucky was still in the bathroom so she decided to wait for him. She went to the far corner of her room and sat in the comfy chair she used for reading. When Lucky stepped out of the bathroom he was wearing only a small towel around his waist. Elizabeth was speechless. She had seen him naked in her mind a million times but nothing could have prepared her for this. As he reached over to pick his bag up off the floor he saw her. He was very aware that there was only a small towel covering his body. Neither one of them moved as they stared deep into each others eyes.

Lucky broke the silence after a few seconds. "I'm sorry." he croaked out as he stood up holding the bag in front of him for protection. "I should have gotten dressed in the bathroom."

Elizabeth finally found her voice, "I... it's okay. Really." Her eyes swept over him, taking him in.

He felt his body stir as if she had actually touched him. "I'll be right back." he said nervously as he headed back into the bathroom. When he had closed the door he leaned against it and closed his eyes, ‘Control yourself Spencer.'

Elizabeth just sat there. She couldn't believe the things that she was feeling. All the years of being alone and not being touched except by family and friends had affected her more than she realized. She couldn't wait to be with Lucky as a women. She wasn't that scared little girl anymore and she wanted him to know that. But not just yet.

Lucky came back out of the bathroom wearing a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt that fit him snugly. Elizabeth could still make out the hard lines of his body underneath them and she couldn't stop staring.

"What's wrong?" he asked her. Lucky could feel her eyes burning into him. He couldn't read her expression but he knew that he hadn't frightened her and he was really happy for that.

She shook her head, "Nothing. Nothing at all." She was smiling.

"Why don't we go downstairs and wait for Nicolas and Angela to come back?" he asked her wanting to get out of the room, away from the bed that seemed to be calling to him, begging him to lay down on it with Elizabeth.

"Okay." She said a little disappointed. She went out of the room with Lucky following.

"Are you hungry?" she asked him as they reached the bottom step.

Lucky grinned and patted his stomach. "Yeah!" he said excitedly. "What do you have here to eat?"

"Let's go see shall we?" she said taking his hand.

When they got to the kitchen Lucky started looking through the cupboards and came across some brownie mix. He pulled it out and started thinking of all the times they had eaten brownies together.

Elizabeth saw what he had in his hand and walked over to him. "Do you remember that time we broke into that department store?" she asked taking the box from him and tearing it open.

"Of course I do. I had you all freaked out thinking there were beams going across the floor!" They both began to laugh at the memory.

"Yeah," she said turning her back to him and opening up the bag containing the powdered mix. "But, I got you back."

"How?" he asked her crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the counter.

She still had her back to him as she said, "By getting you," she reached into the bag and got a handful of the mix, "full of," she pulled out her hand and threw the mix at him, "BROWNIE MIX!"

He stood there covered in the brown powder as she laughed at him. He quickly walked towards her and grabbed the box from her hand. "You are gonna be so sorry you did that."

"No! You wouldn't dare." She said backing away from him.

He answered by covering her with the mix. They were laughing like they did when they were kids. It was like they had never been separated.

While they were in the kitchen Nicolas and Angela showed up. They used the key that Elizabeth had given them and when they opened the front door they could hear them laughing and carrying on. Nicolas was trying to remember the last time he had heard Elizabeth laugh out loud the way she was doing now. It was the last night they spent together at Rubys Diner before Lucky ‘died'.

"HEY YOU GUYS WHAT'S GOING ON IN THERE?" Angela screamed. She then turned to Nicolas, "I don't know if I've ever heard Elizabeth laugh like that. Have you?"

Lucky and Elizabeth walked out of the kitchen before he could answer. They were both covered in a chocolate colored powder from head to toe and they were still laughing.

"Sorry, we didn't hear you come in." Elizabeth managed to say before they all started laughing.

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Spencer Home

"Luke?" Laura said entering their livingroom from the kitchen.

Luke looked up from the report he had in his hands, "What's up honey?"

Laura went to the door picking up their car keys, "I want to go see Elizabeth."

"I don't think they're back yet Laura." Luke said standing up.

"Please, can we just go over there?" she asked him almost begging.

Luke tossed his report on the table and walked towards her, "Baby, what's wrong?"

"Let's just go, okay?" she said opening the door.

"Okay, okay." He said closing the door behind them.

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Webber Home

Nicolas and Angela were sitting on the couch when they heard the doorbell ring. Lucky and Elizabeth were upstairs trying to get cleaned up.

Nicolas got up and pulled the door open, "Mom!" He said surprised opening the door to let her in. "What are you doing here? Did Elizabeth call you already?"

Laura stepped inside and Luke followed. "No, why? Where is she?" Laura asked. "I need to speak with her."

Luke looked at Nicolas and shrugged.

Angela got up from the couch quickly, "She's upstairs. I'll…"

Just then Lucky came bounding down over the stairs, they all turned to look at him. "Man, I'm never gonna get all that sticky mess out of my…" he stopped in his tracks when he saw his parents.

Luke and Laura couldn't believe their eyes. They both stood staring at the son they had long believed was dead with their mouths hanging open and tears in their eyes.

"Oh my God!" Laura said as she reached for him. "Lucky?" she sobbed out.

Lucky walked towards her and threw his arms around her. "Mom," he said through his tears. "Oh mom. I missed you so much."

Luke walked towards them and looked into the eyes of his now grown up son. "Cowboy. It's you. It's you!" he said barely in a whisper.

Elizabeth was coming down over the stairs when she saw the Spencer family standing and crying together. She got Nicolas and Angelas' attention and motioned for them to follow her into the kitchen to give Lucky and his parents some privacy.

Luke gently led Laura over to the couch. Neither one of them took their eyes off of Lucky as he sat on the coffee table facing them.

Lucky took his mothers hands in his, "I'm sorry. We wanted to prepare you a little before you saw me." They were still crying as he continued, "We didn't want you to be completely caught off guard like this."

His parents sat there and stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before Luke gently asked, "Where the hell have you been for the past eight years?"

Lucky took a deep breath before he began.

Elizabeth, Angela and Nicolas were cleaning the kitchen up without speaking. Neither one of them knew what to say. They were all thinking about the past, the present and the future. None of them knew what would happen next, but they didn't care. They were just glad that Lucky was home where he belonged.