Luke tossed his jacket into his chair in the office at his club, and wondered what sort of perverted form of justice had him walking away from the woman he'd loved for all of his adult life. Only this morning he'd been aching to hold her in his arms, and now, all he wanted to do was to get away from her. He poured himself a drink and gulped it down, feeling the alcohol burn all they way down to his empty stomach. He took another swallow, and wished that it would go straight to his head.

"I heard about Kat," Mike said, watching as Luke sucked down another drink. "I heard that you found her."

"I did," Luke told him. "But I didn't kill her. Not that I didn't want to. Hell, I didn't want to kill her-not really. I just wanted to stop her-that is, hell, Mike. I don't know what I wanted to do."

"You want to tell me what you were arguing about?"

Luke shook his head. "No, there are things that I'd rather not talk about. Hell, if killing her would have made them go away, I'd have killed her." He slammed the glass down against his desk. "But, it wouldn't have changed a damned thing!"

"I'd really like to help you, Luke, but I can't if I don't know what's wrong."

"My life is wrong," Luke muttered. "Can you fix that?"

"That's a tall order," Mike admitted. "You sound as screwed up as I am."

"I should be so lucky," Luke said. "At least your son doesn't hate your guts because you raped his mother."

Lucky was on the dock in the darkness, staring out at the lights on Windemere when Nikolas walked up. Casting a look at his half-brother, Nikolas said, "Kathryn's dead."

"I heard," Lucky responded, awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I knew you were friends." He paused, then continued, "and I'm sorry that I tried to hit you earlier."

"Are you sorry that you missed, or that you tried?" The tone was questioning, and it was as if there was a need to talk about anything but the killing.

"A little bit of both," Lucky admitted. "I really wanted to hit you for what you said."

"Understandable," Nik nodded. "I wanted to hit somebody yesterday. Instead, I went running in the park."

"Just before Kat was killed, I guess."

"So it appears. If I'd only stayed with her, she might still be alive."

"Or you might be dead."

"The way I was feeling, the other guy would be," Nik told him, anger seeping through his carefully controlled façade. His fists clinched, Nik turned to Lucky. "I wanted to kill someone. I think I still do."

"I know the feeling," Lucky told him. "I can't believe that I'm standing here talking with you without taking a punch."

"So why are you standing here? Are you going out to Spoon Island to confront Laura and Stefan?"

Lucky laughed, but the sound was cold. Angry. "I've already spoken to her, and to Luke."

Nikolas noted that Lucky used Luke's first name rather than the term 'Dad'. "And?"

"And...what business is it of yours?"

"Just curious. Did she deny anything?"

Lucky was silent, seething, and finally answered. "She confirmed it. She acted like there were extenuating circumstances, but she did confirm it." He shrugged. "He didn't deny it, and he insists that he's my father."

"Do you believe him?"

"$%^&*!! I don't know what to believe," Lucky responded angrily. "I've just had everything that I believe torn out from under me, and the only thing that I'm sure of is that I'm not sure of anything! And, you know something? I'm not sure but what I like it that way. I'm done with her-God! I can't believe that I've listened to her all my life, bought all her lies and dodges! And him-I don't want to be his son. That much I know."

"What about being Stefan's son?" Nik was curious about Lucky's thoughts on the subject.

"I'm not ready to go there," Lucky told him bluntly. "I've hated Cassadines all my life, and I don't want to be one now. Not even if Stefan wanted to hang one of those %^&* medals around my neck and drop a load of cash on me. I'm not for sale."

"Understood. So, at present, we're both in the same boat, though at least Laura has named your father."

"But we both know that she's lied, that both Luke and Stefan have lied, so for all either of us know, the $%^&* mailman fathered us. %^&*, Nik. Who hasn't she slept with?"

There was a pause, a silence as Lucky's words of pain and outraged anger reverberated across the water.

"So, are you going to Spoon Island?" he asked Lucky.

"I might. You think that they'll let you in? Apparently you aren't one of them anymore."

"They'll let me in," Nikolas nodded. "But I'm going back because I'm going to force Stefan to help me find out who killed Kathryn. He owes that much to her, to bring her killer to justice. If he hadn't been with Laura, Kat would still be alive. She'd never have gone to the park today if she hadn't heard Stefan and Laura together. Her blood is on their hands."

"Works for me," Lucky agreed. "Okay, I'll come along, but only because I agree about Kathryn. I wasn't that crazy about her since she let Stefan frame Luke for her shooting, but she didn't deserve to get what she got."

"You are aware that Stefan will want to have you tested to confirm whether or not you're his son-and probably me, too...you know, there's something strange about all of this."

Lucky laughed out loud. "There's something strange? No ****, Sherlock!"

"No, you don't understand. Stefan has to know the truth about me-or at least suspect it. He's had more than ample opportunity to have my blood tested. You remember back when Lulu got sick? My bone marrow was a match for hers. My blood was tested for everything known to man. Now, from what Laura said, Stefan has believed for all these years that he might well be my father. I can't believe that he wouldn't have had our DNA compared. He has to know the truth."

"Wait a minute. Wait just a %^& minute! You're saying that he knows that you either are or aren't his son?"

"He has to know," Nikolas reasoned. "It only makes sense. Stefan believes in information. He worships information. He finds strength in information. He's often said that what you know is more important than who you know, especially if what you know is about whom you know."

"You want to run that by me one more time?"

"Stefan knows because he doesn't operate blindly. What Laura had to say to him would have come as no surprise. If what Laura said is true, then Stefan already knows it, and has made use of the fact that she believed that he didn't know. It also means that if I'm not his son or a Cassadine, that I've been useful to him in other ways."

"Like controlling the Cassadine family interests?"

"Exactly," Nikolas responded. "Stefan controls them in my name as I'm, or was, the official heir, the son of Stavros, the eldest son. Had Stavros died with no heirs, then it's possible that his other brother, Victor, might well have taken control, though it would have had to have been done from prison. Therefore, an heir was needed, and I was convenient. Stefan allowed the lie of my paternity to pass, though now that you've been named as official son, the job falls to you."

"I'll pass on that," Lucky told him. "But this does raise a few interesting questions. If he knows that you aren't his son, and that your bone marrow matched Lulu's, then maybe you and Lulu are full brother and sister.. which means...$%^&*

"This gets worse and worse."

"You noticed."

"I noticed. %^&*!!"

"I understand your anger, little brother, but words do have meanings, and simply venting your anger with profanity is getting us nowhere."

"Us? Since when has there been an 'us'?"

"Since right now," Nikolas told him. "Since we both share the same goal of finding Kathryn's killer and dealing with our respective family backgrounds. Assuming that Laura has told the truth about either of us, a rather large assumption, yes, then you have my former background. I can be of assistance there, if you wish to know anything."

Lucky thought about that for a few minutes, and nodded. "Okay, I'll work with you about Kat, and regarding the other-no promises. I just got rid of one family, and though I'm not about to claim kin to the Cassadines, I do have one question. What can you tell me about Helena Cassadine?"

Nik's expression changed. "She's everything that you don't want to know about, Lucky. According to Stefan, she's evil incarnate. If what he says is true, she's powerful and will stop at nothing to achieve her goals."

"If what Stefan says is true," Lucky pointed out. "Seems that all we've gotten from any of our prospective parents is lies...

Maybe she's not as bad as all that..."

"He's like a wounded beast," Mrs. Lansbury reported. "Shouting orders, cursing...yes, cursing!" She spoke into a cellular phone, and then retreated back into the kitchen, talking furtively. "No, I don't know where Nikolas is. How shall I handle that situation? I see. Yes, I'll keep you informed."

With a smile of concern on her face, Mrs. Lansbury entered the room where Stefan was shouting into his phone. "I don't care what it takes. Do it! Do you understand? Do it!"