Sly's eyes had closed again, but he was mumbling, "I knew you would come for me, I knew it…"
Luke looked at the two young men and sighed. He had no idea why the club was closed, or why Lucky and Sly had gotten drunk. As far as he knew, Lucky never drank. He just knew that he could not leave them there. He had to get them in the back.
Luke decided to take Sly first since he seemed semi-awake. "Come on, Sly. Get up." He pulled Sly to his feet. Sly allowed himself to be guided into the club's office. Luke opened the door and said, "Why don't you lay down, Sly." Sly gingerly lay down on the carpet. "That's good, that's good," Luke whispered. He then walked back to the front.
He saw his son still sleeping on the couch. Luke took a moment to observe Lucky. His brown hair looked like it was recently cut. To Luke's eyes, Lucky looked a little lighter, and a little paler. He hesitantly approached him. "Lucky, why don't we take a walk, huh?" He went to pull him up, but Lucky did not budge. Luke chuckled. "That's my boy, stubborn as hell." Luke could not leave him there, so he decided to pick him up. As he brought him into the office, Luke whispered to Lucky. "You know, I haven't carried you like this in a long, long time." He lay Lucky down next to his sleeping cousin.
He then crept into the front and cleaned up the mess the boys had left. It looked like they had drank at least a bottle and a half of the whiskey. "You had to drink the good stuff," Luke said to himself. He gathered up the glasses and straightened the tables. He shut off the lights and returned to the office.
Luke sat in the desk chair and sighed. He was surprised to find the club completely closed. He knew that Roy was usually the last to lock up, but he must have just closed the club for the night. He needed to get a hold of Roy to remain hidden. He had not bargained on finding Lucky and Sly. He leaned back on the chair and looked at them. It was going to be a long night.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Nikolas slowly walked through the park, which was not too far from L&B, the next morning. He was not due into work for another hour, so he thought that maybe a walk would clear his head. It had been another sleepless night filled with dreams about Stefan. Nikolas knew that Luke Spencer had been arrested for his murder, but Nikolas could just feel that that was not right.
Nikolas' dream was always the same: he was in a house of mirrors, searching for Stefan. Stefan would appear, saying, "I am here, Nikolas, come to me." Nikolas would run to him, but it was just a mirror. He would reappear again and again, and Nikolas would just keep running into the mirrors. Finally, he would just give up and sit on the floor. Then, he would feel a hand on his shoulder. He would think it was Stefan, but when he turned around, the sinister face of this grandmother, Helena, greeted him. Nikolas would always wake up in a cold sweat after that.
He sat heavily on a park bench, not noticing the girl sitting on the other end.
Olivia Locke shuffled through her papers, research she was doing on her mother, Dr. Rachel Locke. Livvie was determined to find out why her mother did not want her in Port Charles. She had to be careful, though, because her mother had no idea she was still in town. Livvie was living under an assumed name until she could find the answer she was looking for. Luckily, Lucy Coe had taken Livvie under her wing, and was letting her stay with her at the Port Charles Hotel.
Finally, Livvie's curiosity got the best of her, and she glanced over at the young man who had sat next to her on the park bench. He seemed upset, and her heart went out to him. Maybe I can help, she thought.
"Whatever it is, it must be pretty important," Livvie said.
Nikolas turned towards the other person occupying the park bench. "Excuse me?" he said as he turned. He was greeted by the smiling face of a girl about his age. She had long brown hair and big, soulful brown eyes.
"You must be thinking about something important. You look so serious."
Nikolas was almost taken aback by her beauty, but tried not to show it. "Is it that obvious?"
Livvie smiled. He looked as lost as she felt. "Sometimes the feelings we try to internalize manifest themselves in other ways."
Nikolas smiled at the girl. "Very insightful. Are you a psychiatrist?"
Livvie chuckled. "No, but I am a doctor's daughter. It's hard not to pick up on these things."
Nikolas was intrigued. "Is your parent on staff at General Hospital?" he questioned.
"Oh, no," Livvie lied. "My mom doesn't live here."
"Oh." Nikolas looked at his hands for a moment, then looked up again. "My uncle used to run the hospital, but he passed away a few months ago." Nikolas was surprised that he just told a total stranger that.
"I'm sorry." Livvie looked at Nikolas' pained face. "He must have been important to you."
Nikolas nodded, then glanced at the pile of papers Livvie was holding. "Are you doing some research?" he asked, changing the subject.
Livvie looked down at her papers. "Yeah, I'm here doing a pre-term project for a college class on hospital administration."
Nikolas smiled. "Well, then, you met the right person today. I can help you out. If you want to interview anyone at GH, just tell me and I will set it up."
"That's awfully nice…" She paused. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name."
Nikolas extended his hand. "Nikolas Cassadine. And your name is?"
Livvie shook his hand. "Charlotte Macmillan, but everyone calls me Charlie."
"Why would they when you have such a beautiful name?" He saw the time on his watch, and realized it was time to go. He had not let go of Livvie's hand, so he kissed it and said, "It's getting late, but I hope to see you again, Charlotte."
Livvie blushed as he let go of her hand. "Sure, Nikolas." She said it with shyness in her voice that made him smile, something he had not done in a long time. He knew he wanted to see her again. "Why don't we do this, same time, same place, tomorrow. I'll even bring the coffee."
Livvie smiled broadly. "That sounds wonderful. I'll be here."
Nikolas slowly backed away, not wanting to take his eyes off her for a second. "Until tomorrow, sweet Charlotte." He walked off into the distance.
Livvie giggled softly to herself. This was an unexpected, but not unwelcome development. Maybe she didn't have to spend all of her time in the library.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Roy DiLucca opened the back door to Luke's carefully. He had closed the club the night before to give the harried employees the night off. This also gave him some alone time with Bobbie. After Roy had turned off the alarm, he went into the office, and when he turned on the lights, he got a shock.
"So you think closing the club is a good way to do business?" The unmistakable voice of Luke Spencer filled the air. He was sitting in the chair with his feet up on the desk, watching two young men sleep on the floor.
"Hey, you're back!" Roy said with an enthusiastic tone of voice.
"Don't get too excited there, partner." Luke motioned to Lucky and Sly on the floor, and he and Roy exited the office.
"Wow, you need a shave," Roy commented.
"It was all a part of the disguise," Luke said, rubbing his scruffy beard.
"So, are you back for good?" Roy asked.
"Depends. I still need to hide while I'm gathering evidence to prove that I was framed. Do you have any suggestions about where I can stay?"
"There's always Sonny's safe house."
"Oh, no, I don't want to get involved with Corinthos again." Suddenly, an idea came to Luke. "Hey, don't worry about it, Roy, I've got it covered." He looked around the club. "Well, at least the place is still standing. Did you fire Claude?" Luke smirked.
"Only once," Roy joked.
"I leave the club in your supposedly capable hands, and you're already messing with the formula? Claude is supposed to be fired at least two times a week."
Roy just smiled, and stroked his chin. "Hey, Luke, who are those two kids on the floor in there? One looked like Lucky."
Luke smiled sadly. "Yes, that is my son, and his cousin, Sly."
Roy had a confused look on his face. "Cousin? How can that be, Luke? Unless you have a sibling I don't know about."
Luke paced a bit. "Ok, to be technical, second cousin. Or third cousin. Whatever." Luke turned to look at Roy. "I actually had a first cousin named Bill Eckert who looked exactly like me. That's his kid."
"So there's another person walking around with that ugly mug of yours?"
Luke made a face at Roy. "That's just the thing. Bill took a bullet for me protecting Lucky and Sly about six years ago. It was a case of mistaken identity. It just proved how inept Frank's men were." He pulled out a bottle of brandy and a snifter; he poured himself a drink. "The kid's an orphan. But he's also Lucky's best friend, or at least he used to be."
"But why are they sleeping on the floor in the office?"
Luke took a sip of brandy before answering. "Because they had almost two bottles of whiskey between them. I'm letting them sleep it off. I stayed up the whole night just to make sure they didn't have alcohol poisoning or something."
"Why did they do that?" Roy asked, frowning.
"I have no idea. I'm guessing that Lucky still had the key to this place, but why they drank so much, who knows."
"Did they see you?"
Luke sighed. "Yes, but I don't think they'll say anything. Even though I know Lucky is mad at me right now, I'm sure he doesn't think I killed Stefan." He walked to the rear of the club. "I'm going to go check on them. Don't tell anyone you saw me; well, on second thought, you can tell my baby sister, but keep it between the two of you."
"Sure. It's great to have you back, Luke."
Luke just winked at Roy before entering the office again.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Sly had woken up when he heard voices and the door shut. He took a look at his surroundings. He was in the office at Luke's. So maybe the last night wasn't a dream. He could have sworn he saw his father.
He sat up, and his head pounded. He saw Lucky sleeping beside him. It was impossible, he thought. He was sure he saw Bill last night, but his logical mind told him otherwise. However, his heart didn't want to believe that.
As he pondered the possibilities, the door opened. Suddenly, it was like six years ago. It was Bill Eckert, complete with beard and flannel shirt, walking in. But as soon as the man opened his mouth, the illusion was shattered.
"Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty," the man said, and Sly knew that it was Luke. He felt a strange sense of disappointment.
"How are you, stranger?" Luke asked.
Sly groaned. "Hungover. It's nice to see you again, Luke."
Luke smiled at Sly. "Care to tell me why you and the cowboy drank all of the whiskey last night?"
Sly held his head. "Don't blame me, this was Lucky's idea."
"Really? Since when does Lucky drink?" Luke's voice took on a defensive tone.
"Since he…" Sly trailed off when he realized Luke had no idea what went on the past few months. "Maybe I better let Lucky explain."
"Explain what?" Lucky asked, rolling over. He was shocked to see his father standing above him. He sat up, and quickly moaned in pain.
"You shouldn't sit up too fast, Lucky. I can imagine that you have a splitting headache like I do," Sly said.
"What are you doing here, Dad?" he asked.
"Cleaning up after the two of you, apparently."
"I don't need your help," Lucky said. He could feel his defenses starting to rise, even though he knew somewhere in his heart that he could trust his father.
Luke backed up, holding up his hands. "Well, fine. I'll leave you, then." Luke stood at the door to the club area. "Just do me a favor and don't tell anyone where I am right now. I don't need Bubba breathing down my neck while I'm trying to clear myself."
"Ok." Lucky got up off the floor. "I'm leaving, Sly."
"And go home to Laura like this?" Sly slowly rose from the floor as well. "Just give me a minute, and we'll crash at my place." Lucky took another look at his father, and left without a word.
Luke looked at Sly. "Go home to Laura? He moved back in?"
"Yeah, he did. It's a long story. Maybe you better talk to her."
"I will."
Sly looked up at him, years of uncried tears welling up in his eyes. "Luke, about last night, I'm… sorry that I called you Dad."
Luke's eyes softened. "Hey, no problem, Sly. I guess I'm doing a hell of an impression of him, huh?" He touched his beard. "Do me a favor and stay close by Lucky."
He smiled. "I think he could really use a friend."
Sly looked at Luke again. "Will do," he whispered. He moved to the door, then stopped for a second. He nodded to Luke. "All you're missing is the glasses." He slipped out silently.
Luke sighed. Something is up, he thought. I'd better go see Laura to find out.
Sly leaned against the wall in the hallway in an effort to compose himself. For a brief second, he had hoped that somehow his father was back. It was just another thing that was ripped away from him. Sly thought he'd be used to it by now. He ran his hands through his hair, and opened the door to join Lucky outside.