Nikolas had been surprised by Helena's sudden movement, and his finger had jerked the trigger of the revolver he held, but the bullet didn't hit his grandmother. Instead, it went behind her, just missing her back. At Elizabeth's shrill scream, he forgot all about Helena and ran to the girl.
The bullet had hit Andreas square in the chest, and he had fallen to the floor. Nikolas hurried over to Elizabeth and pulled her into his arms. "Are you alright? Did it hit you?"
"No....I'm okay...I just--"
"Nikoas, move away from her." Helena had gotten hold of the gun that Andreas had been holding, and had picked up the one that Nikolas had dropped when Elizabeth had screamed. I'm sorry you have to see this, but it must happen. Please move to the other side of the room, I don't want you to get hurt. Darling, if you don't obey me, I might not aim correctly, and your poor little friend could suffer unduly. If we do this right, she won't feel a thing." Helena held one gun on Nikoas, motioning him to sit down on the floor, and the other gun she put to Elizabeth's temple, and cocked the hammer.
Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and knocked to the floor. One of the guns bounced harmlessly across the carpet, where Luke grabbed it, and the other one dropped from her hand as Lucky twisted her wrist cruelly.
Lucky had the gun pointed at Helenas head. Anger such as he had never felt before was coursing through him. This woman had come so close to killing his beloved Elizabeth, if he had gotten there a second later, she would be dead right now. He pulled the hammer back with his thumb. "Now it's your turn," he snarled at her. He looked into her terror-filled eyes, and said in a low voice, "You're never going to hurt anyone again.
As the sound of sirens wailing outside got closer and stopped in front of the building, Lucky could hear Elizabeth's voice behind him, sobbing, " Lucky, no!" and he slowly let the hammer go forward on the gun. He handed it to Luke. "Death would be an easy way out. She doesn't deserve that." He gave the woman one more look, then turned dismissively away from her.
Elizabeth threw herself into Lucky's open arms and sobbed on his shoulder. After a moment she pulled back and caressed his face. "Thank you for not doing it, Lucky. I know you wanted to, but if you did, they'd take you away from me...again...I couldn't bear that."
"I know," Lucky said soothingly, stroking her her hair. "I know. Elizabeth, if anything had happened to you..." he broke off as his voice choked up and pulled her fiercely to him, closing his eyes and breathing in the sweet scent of her hair.
Nikolas was watching their reunion with a heavy heart. He had been glad to see Lucky and Luke burst through the door, of course, but now he realized that the battle for Elizabeth's heart was lost even before it had begun. Lucky had always had it. He mustered up a smile as Elizabeth left Lucky's side to come over and embrace him.
"Nikolas, thank you, so much." She kissed him on the cheek, then turned back to Lucky. "Nikolas saved me too," she said.
The two young men eyed each other warily for a moment, but then Lucky held out his hand to Nikolas, who hesitated for only a second before he took it. They solemnly shook hands, both of them understanding that it meant more than thanks. Lucky saw the acceptance of defeat in his brother's eyes, and felt a pang of sympathy for him. He hoped that their relationship could someday be like it was before the kidnapping, but he knew it would never be completely the same again.
Just then Taggert burst through the door, followed by several uniformed police officers. Ignoring Luke's sarcastic "Better late than never," he took in the scene in the room. One man, whom he recognized as Helena's boy-toy-henchman, was dead, and Helena was held at bay by Luke, who had a gun in his hand. Lucky had his arm wrapped protectively around his girlfriend, and Nikolas was sitting quietly, not really looking at anyone. "Well, anyone wanna tell me what went on here?" he asked, holstering his gun.
Between the four of them, the story was told, and Helena was taken away in handcuffs while the coroner took care of Andreas's body. They would have to go downtown tomorrow and make official statements, but Taggert was satisfied that they were telling the truth, and considered Andreas's death an accident. It would have to be looked into, but he told Nikolas that he didn't forsee any trouble for him, considering the circumstances.
Elizabeth's apartment was again a crime scene and she had to leave. "You'll stay with us," said Luke, in a voice that brooked no argument, not that Elizabeth was inclined to argue. "I think we can find an extra bedroom in that barn of a house." He had said this to make sure Lucky wasn't getting any ideas of Liz bunking with him. He didn't think Laura would go for that.
When they got back to the Spencer house, and told Laura and Leslie all that had happened, by then it was 3:00 in the morning, and Lucky noticed that Elizabeth was struggling to keep her eyes open. He took her hand and walked her upstairs to the room she was going to be sleeping in. When they got to the room he kissed her gently, and told her what his mom had suggested about the wedding. He could see her eyes shine when he mentioned the white dress and the flowers, and he was glad he had listened to Laura. "One week, Elizabeth. Can we wait one week?" He gave her a crooked grin and she knew that he was talking about more than the wedding.
"I think we can," she answered with a smile, leaning up to kiss him again. "Goodnight, Lucky. I love you."
"I love you too," he said softly, then let himself out the door, smiling to himself, as he walked down the hall towards his own room.