The Worst of Times - 7

Jax continued to stare at his fiance, shocked beyond words. "You-" was all he managed to say before there was a knock at the door. Brenda bounded up to answer it.
   "We'll talk about this later," she said hastily, then pulled open the door. "Mac!" she exclaimed, surprised. "What a surprise! Come on in. I hope you don't mind me inviting company in, Jax," she said with mock sincerity.
   "No, of course not," Jax replied, and forced a smile. "Is there anything I can get you?" he asked Mac.
   "Yeah, actually. Would you mind getting me a drink? It's been a hard week."
   Jax nodded, and glanced strangely at Brenda. "What would you like?" he asked.
   "Why don't you get us both a beer," Mac responded. "That is, if you have any."
   "I'm not THAT alien," Jax said with a slight smile. "I'll be right back," he said, and nodded at Brenda before disappearing into the kitchen.
   "Mac, what are you doing here?" Brenda whispered after he had left.
   "We had a deal, remember," Mac replied. "You finished half of it for us. But there's still the other matter."
   "Are you sure we should risk it, Mac? I mean, Jason's taken care of now."
   "There's still a part of him alive. I can't let that part remain." Mac sighed and looked towards the kitchen. "Does he know?" he asked.
   "Jax? Yeah, I told him about Jason. But he doesn't suspect anything." Brenda laughed bitterly. "He thinks I'm still in love with him." She paused, her face growing sad. "Like I could love another man after Sonny," she finished, regret filling her voice.
   "This is no time for self-pity," Mac said sharply. "We have a job to do. You know about the party at Luke's?"
   "Of course," Brenda replied. "Half the town's going to be there."
   "Right," Mac said, and nodded. "That's when we'll plan our strike."
   "You're sure Robin won't be there?" Brenda asked with real concern.
   "Of course," Mac ensured her, then the two hastily pulled away as Jax returned from the kitchen with a couple of beers.
   "They were buried behind the Chinese," he said with a grin, then noticed their odd expressions. "Did I miss something?" he asked innocently.
 

   Lucky frowned, then hefted the suitcase again. "It seems heavy," he said.
   "It IS heavy," Liz laughed. "You're packing for a whole MONTH, remember."
   "Oh yeah," Lucky said, as if he had forgotten. "Bobbie's going to get a little sick of my company after a while."
   "How could she?" Liz smiled brightly and sat on Lucky's bed. "This is the first time you've been home in MONTHS and you end up staying for less than an hour," she said.
   Lucky smiled tightly. "I don't think I'm up for a night in the same house as my dad."
   "You don't know until your try."
   "I don't want to try, Elizabeth!"
   Liz drew back from him, fear flashing in her eyes. Lucky inhaled deeply and fought to calm himself enough to speak to her again. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I just don't want to talk about this right now."
   "Obviously," Liz said with tears in her eyes. She brushed them away before they had a chance to spill down her cheeks. They looked up as Bobbie walked in, smiling.
   "Hey guys," she said cheerfully. 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she added, noticing Liz's expression.
   "You're not," Lucky said shortly, and lifted his suitcase again. "I'm ready if you are."
   "I just came to pick you up," Bobbie said. "Do you need help carrying anything."
   "No, this is it."
   "Okay. Then I guess we should go. Oh," she said as an afterthought. She turned back to the teenagers. "Have you heard anything about the party at your dad's club tomorrow night?"
   Lucky nodded. "In memory of Jason, right?"
   "Yeah," Bobbie said slowly. "I know you have a lot of worries right now, the fact that you're being charged with two murders the greatest of them---but I thought maybe you could come." Lucky's expression tightened, his eyes growing hard. "Now," Bobbie said, holding up a hand, "you don't HAVE to. But I think it would be good to make a NORMAL public appearance before you're put on trial for murder."
   "You mean an appearance where I DON'T have a mental breakdown?" Lucky asked with raised eyebrows.
   "Well, yeah," Bobbie admitted. "If you could bring Elizabeth with you-"
   "We'll be there," Liz said quickly and smiled at Lucky. "If you don't mind," she added.
   Lucky stared at Liz silently for a moment, his expression unreadable, then his face softened. "Alright," he said finally. "Why not?"
 

  Luke straightened his suit, then ran to the door to greet his guests. "Hey Barbara," he said as his sister approached with Jerry Jax. "Great to see you. I don't suppose you brought my son with you?" he asked hesitantly.
   "He had to pick up Liz," she responded to Luke's surprise. "They should be here soon.
   Luke smiled and nodded at Jerry as they walked in. He stood by the door for several minutes as the guests poured in, some he knew, and many he didn't. At last Felicia and V walked up grinning. "Oh, Luke, you always know how to throw a party," Felicia said lightly. "Too bad it has to be such a sad occasion.
   "Yeah," Luke responded. "I'd love to be able to bring Jason back, but I can't. So I'll throw a party in his honor instead."
   "And at the place where he was killed," V added with some disgust.
   "That was just an accident, hon, " Luke said. 'I'd love to change something about THAT too."
   "Is Laura here?" Feilicia asked.
   Luke nodded. "What about Mac? Or is Bubba busy tongiht?"
   "He had something to take care of," Felicia said, then smiled. "He'll be by later."
   Luke waved them in. "Well, I guess you'll just have to have a blast without him then."
   He walked to the bar and smiled at his wife. "Quite a turn-out," Laura said with a hint of pride.
   Luke nodded. "Too bad Jason had to miss it, huh?" His expression hardened when he saw Nikolas and Stefan Cassadine walk in. "Hold on a minute, babe," he said and stalked toward them. "Hey, Claude, what'd I say about letting the bloodsuckers in? This is a bat FREE joint, bud," he said, grabbing Stefan's arm to usher him out. "You and the brat are going to have to find another place to feed."
   Stefan jerked away from his grasp, and glared at him. "My nephew and I are here at the request of your wife, Spencer. I suggest you allow us to go freely."
   Laura joined Luke in front of the door. She looked at her husband with pleading eyes. "He's my SON Luke," she said. "And this is for Jason. Not you."
   "Fine!" Luke shouted. "Why don't you all just have a wonderful night together?" He walked back to the bar angrily, and poured himself in a drink. Laura forced a smile and the small group walked to a table.
   Luke watched them go silently, downing his drink in a gulp. He started to pour himself another when he noticed Mike walking toward him. "The Quartermaines are here," he said, seating himself at the bar in front of him.
   "I saw that," Luke said disgustedly and finsihed pouring his drink. He handed another to Mike and they toasted Jason and drank together. "Did you see who else showed up?"
   "You mean Carly?" Mike asked. "Yeah. I didn't even know she was out of the hospital."
   "Only for the night," Luke said. "They let her come with a guard since she couldn't make it to the funeral."
    Mike nodded, and after a moment looked up with a smile. "We haven't done this in a while," he said, handing Luke his glass to refill.
   "No, we haven't," Luke agreed. "Seems just like old times, doesn't it?"
   "Yeah," Mike repsonded. "Except everything's changed." They glanced toward the doorway and saw Claude arguing with an unfamiliar man. Luke shook his head and hurried to the entrance.
   "This is a PRIVATE party," Claude said sternly to the man.
   "I just need to give Mr. Spencer a message," the man insisted, then looked relieved to see Luke walk up.
   "What do you need to tell me?" Luke asked.
   "Well," the man answered, and moved aside.
   Luke's eyes widened as he recognized the man who entered the doorway. "Long time no see buddy!" he said happily, grinning, and clapped his friend heavily on the shoulder.
 

   "That's Luke in the doorway," Brenda said from her concealed spot across the parking lot. "Looks like he's greeting guests."
   "Yeah, but who's that with him?" Mac asked, leaning in toward her. "I can just see his back."
   "I don't know," Brenda said. "Who cares, anyway? You know what's going to happen to them."
   Mac pushed against her shoulder, frowning angrily. "Just see who it is!" he snapped. Brenda sighed and lifted the binoculars to her eyes.
 

   Lucky smiled as he sat down across from Liz. "How many are staring?" he asked, careful to keep his gaze fixed on her face.
   "No one," Liz said for the third time that night. "You're paranoid, Lucky. No one's even considering you as Jason's murderer."
   "I'm the only suspect, Elizabeth. Of course people are considering me as the killer."
   Liz looked away, trying to mask her anger. She turned back to her date and put a reassuring hand on his. "Try not to think about that, Lucky. Okay? Let's just have fun tonight."
 

   Brenda focused the lenses on the binoculars again, but still couldn't make out the man's face. "He's facing the other way, Mac. I can't tell who it is." She glanced down at her watch. Three minutes left. She winced as she remembered that her watch had been two minutes off. Make that one minute left.
   "Well, look harder. This could be important," Mac said feverishly.
   "Fine," Brenda said, and stared harder at the club. She gasped as she realized who the man was and jumped to her feet. "No!" she called, sprinting toward the building. "SONNY!" she screamed, and stumbled to her knees as the bomb in the club detonated.



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