{At the apartment}

Nikolas:  {Looks up from eating a bowl of cereal when Lucky comes in the door}  “Hey.”

Lucky:  “You're back.”

Nikolas:  “Eating your cereal.”

Lucky:  “You check it for bugs? {Nikolas quickly drops the spoon in the bowl and looks up. Lucky starts laughing} Kidding. Man, you got a paper route I don't know about? You were gone before I got up. Almost forgot you were staying here.” {He sits down at the table}

Nikolas: “I went for an early run this morning. I tried to be quiet so I didn't wake you.”

Lucky:  “Thank you.” {He starts working on the answering machine}

Nikolas:  “What's wrong with the machine?”

Lucky:  “It gets cranky. You like the floor?”

Nikolas:  “It was hard as a rock, but appreciated.”

Lucky:  “Well, maybe one night for fun we can go down, sleep on the benches at the docks. I guess being a prince, you don't get much occasion to sleep on floors, do you?”

Nikolas:  {He shakes his head} “No, I don't.”

Lucky:  “You ever camped out?”

Nikolas:  “No.”

Lucky:  “So I guess you never staked out a place in a department store, you know, so you can get a good night's sleep, either?”

Nikolas:  “Never have.”

Lucky:  “You ever thought about how limiting being a prince is? Think of all the stuff you miss out on. I mean, what's the most out-there thing you've ever done?”

Nikolas:  “Well, I’m not a prince. I'm a bastard. Exactly what your father always said I was. Yeah. As it turns out, I’m not the eldest son of the eldest son after all. My uncle is my father.”

Lucky:  “Come again?”

Nikolas:  “Stavros Cassadine isn't my father. Stefan is.”
 
 
 

Lucky:  “Stefan’s your father?”

Nikolas:  “Yeah.”

Lucky:  “You just found this out?”

Nikolas:  “Yeah. That's why I asked to stay here.”

Lucky: {Leaning back in his chair}  “Maybe you'd better start from the top.”

Nikolas:  “All right, but first I need your word that this stays between us. I mean, this pretty much changes everything in my life. I don't want it to get out until I know what I plan to do.”

Lucky:  “Hey, no one's going to hear it from me. You have my word.”

Nikolas:  “All right. Someone -- someone who I don't want to name, someone that I trusted -- found out and passed the information on to me.”

Lucky:  “And how'd they find out?”

Nikolas:  “The point is they did.”

Lucky:  “Yeah, but did they have proof? I mean, a blood test, a birth certificate -- I mean, anything except -- well, then you don't know. They could be lying.”

Nikolas:  “I confronted my Unc-- I’m sorry -- my father. I keep doing that. I confronted my father about it, and he said it was true.”

Lucky:  “Just like that? He said it's true?”

Nikolas:  “Well, yeah, I mean, I didn't stick around for long explanations.”

Lucky:  “Have you -- have you spoken to our mother?”

Nikolas:  “No, but it's on my list. You know, when I heard the words, you know, "I’m your father" –“

Lucky:  “Everything shifted.”

Nikolas:  “Yeah.”

Lucky:  “And you knew the world would never be the same.”

Nikolas:  “Yeah.”
 
 
 

Lucky:  “Any idea what you want to do about this?”

Nikolas:  “Not yet.”

Lucky:  “I don't -- what happens to your inheritance?”

Nikolas:  “Well, the law going back 500 years says the only one who can inherit the full estate is the eldest son of the eldest son, and every generation since the 1500s has produced an eldest son. Since Stavros didn't, the law says that all the Cassadine holdings will be divided among anyone who can prove that they're a blood relation.”

Lucky:  “And that would be how many?”

Nikolas:  “Quite a few. Enough to destroy the power of the estate and end the dynasty. There's probably something else that you should know. My grandmother has always treated me with respect because I’m, a, the prince, and, b, Stavros' son. Since I am neither, if this gets out, it could be a little dangerous to be around me.”

Lucky:  “Thanks for the warning. I think I can handle it. I've been on Helena’s hit list since the day I was born a Spencer.”

Nikolas:  “So what you think?”

Lucky:  “About what?”

Nikolas:  “Our mother.”

Lucky:  “She lied -- again. I mean, what else is there to say? Maybe she and my dad were meant for each other. Man, this shouldn't be a shock to us.”

Nikolas:  “I know.”

Lucky:  “We were both there the day she came down the stairs barefoot. We both thought the same thing.”

Nikolas:  “I know. You think it's still going on?”

Lucky:  “Man, trying to figure out our mother's more than a full-time job. We got better things to do.”

Nikolas:  “You think your father knows?”

Lucky:  “Yeah. Yeah, he knows.”

Nikolas:  “Yeah. See, remember -- remember at the end of my father's -- my father's trial? And that morning I came to you to the boxcar and suggested that you check on Laura? And then I mentioned the look your father gave her before he left the courtroom while she was still on the stand. And I told you, he took off right after that.”

Lucky:  “That explains the fight.”

Nikolas:  “Yeah.”

Lucky:  “See, I went over there to make sure everything was cool. And I didn't hear everything, but I could tell they were fighting. I mean, it was intense because it ended with him storming out.”

Nikolas:  “Yeah. It must've been when he found out. The prosecution asked Laura if she and Stefan ever had physical relations, and she answered no. And somehow your father realized that she was lying. You know what I can't believe? I can't believe this never occurred to me. I always said that I thought of him as my father, that no one could've been a better one to me than him, but what never occurred to me was that he is my father. And, you know, there were little clues everywhere, and they weren't even subtle. I mean, how could I have missed this?”

Lucky:  “You wanted to believe the story you were being told.”
 
 

(Due to a glitch in the reception, pictures are grainy)

Nikolas:  {Putting on his coat} “All my life, I’ve been conditioned to think of myself as the prince, the Cassadine heir -- the end result of a 500-year-old legacy. Now I’m just, what?”

Lucky:  “You're Nikolas. Whoever that is. Look, you're the only one who can tell you who you are.”

Nikolas: “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

Lucky:  “You going to see her now?”

Nikolas:  “I still have some more questions for Uncle. Then Laura. You do me a favor? If Stefan calls, don't tell him anything, ok?”

Lucky:  “You got it.”

Nikolas:  “Al right.  {He starts to leave, but turns back} And thanks.” {He leaves. Lucky picks up a picture of his mother and sister}

Lucky:  {As Lizzie is taking off her coat}  “Nikolas had some business to take care of.”

Lizzie:  “What are you doing?”

Lucky:  “Phone machine needed new guts.”

Lizzie:  “You know how to do that?”

Lucky:  “Figuring it out.”

Lizzie:  “Oh. Ok, I want to show you a sketch I made. Now, it's rough, but that's partly on purpose because I kind of like a whole lot of fine-tunings and the special touches for the final masterpiece. And usually I wouldn't even show you, but I really like this one, so I want you to see it. Here. It's the mural for the next wall. And you see this section? This is the woods. My idea was to paint it so that your Christmas present would hang right here. You know, get that two-dimensional art thing going so that the painting of the boxcar would fit in with the mural of the woods. What do you think? Is it lame?”

Lucky:  “I think it's brilliant. Yeah, I like this. This is good.”

Lizzie:  “Good. Well, that's all the previewing you get. And I’m thinking I’m going to use light colors so it draws you in but doesn't overpower the room.”

Lucky:  “Well, guess I’d better get cracking on getting these walls stripped, huh.”

Lizzie:  “It's no rush. I'm just going to sit here and watch you. You know, I could do this for months. Lucky -- what's wrong? Did you and Nikolas already get in a fight?”

Lucky:  “No. Just the opposite.”

Lizzie:  “What happened?”

Lucky:  “It seems to be his turn to get a pile of family garbage dumped on him. He -- he asked me not to pass any of it on to anyone.”

Lizzie:  “That's ok. You don't have to tell me. But was he able to discuss it with you? {He nods} Good. I'm glad he has someone to confide in. Is there anything I can do?”

Lucky:  “Well, give him the benefit of the doubt if he starts acting weird you know, it's funny -- just when you think your family can't hurt you again, that all the lies are out, that you know everything -- bam -- you're blindsided. You know what I can't figure out? Why does it keep mattering?”

Lizzie:  “Because they're your family."
 
 
 

Lizzie:  {Sitting down on the bed} "You've been thinking about your mom and dad, haven't you?”

Lucky:  “I grew up sure that if one thing was true, it was that my parents loved each other. And not -- not like other people. My parents' was bigger and deeper and then it just popped. You know? Like it had a life of its own. You know -- you know how you think I protect you? Well, ironically, I got that instinct from my father. Everything they did had a history -- everything. They -- they couldn't cook fish without cracking up over some old story about two fish named Frick and Frack. And the next thing you knew, they'd be kissing. And they'd just start dancing at any moment -- no warning. We lived up in Canada for a while and ran this diner, and there were certain songs -- have I told you this?”

Lizzie:  “Uh-uh.”

Lucky:  “No. There were certain songs that when someone punched them on the jukebox, I just put my head in my hands because I knew no matter what was going on -- didn't matter if it was in the middle of a lunch hour or what -- I knew they were going to dance. And all I can figure is it's the lies and the secrets that started changing everything. When Nikolas showed up, and my dad had to wrap his head around why -- why she never told him. I look back, and I -- I just see the whole thing breaking apart.”

Lizzie:  “So you think your mom started this?”

Lucky:  “No. That's not what I’m saying. I don't know what I’m saying. It's complicated. Maybe it started with the rape. Or maybe it started when she never told him about the whole Nikolas thing. Or maybe even before that, when she lied to her first husband. I -- the point is my parents seem to have become people who are better at keeping secrets than telling the truth. And especially my dad has this tendency to go completely ballistic when he does find out, so –“

Lizzie:  “So you can kind of understand her being afraid to tell him.”

Lucky:  “And I was raised by all that.”

Lizzie:  “But, Lucky, you're not like that.”

Lucky:  “No matter what, if one of us finds out we've made a mistake or if a lie somehow slipped out, we have to clean it up.”

Lizzie:  “Ok. Before we go to bed.”

Lucky:  “Ok. But the best thing to do is not to lie.”

Lizzie:  “I agree.”

Lucky:  “Because lies destroy. We have to make sure that doesn't happen to us.”

Lizzie:  “It won't.”

Lucky:  “Listen -- think things are about to heat up again in the Spencer-Cassadine war. That just means we're going to have to be a little careful.”

Lizzie:  “Why?”

Lucky:  “Because people have died. People have been in car crashes and -- look, all I’m saying is we just have to hold ourselves separate. Ok?”

Lizzie:  “You're really scared.”

Lucky:  “No, I just don't want to lose you. {He puts his hand up to her face} It's important that we stay absolutely straight with each other.”

Lizzie:  “We will.” {She lays back into his arms}

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