Disclaimer: I own nothing of "General Hospital". All the characters belong to the writers, actors, directors, producers, etc, basically anyone but me. I am just borrowing them for a time.

A/N: This is an AU story taking place in February of 2000. There are only minor story changes before the story begins, those being only a matter of time. To make the story fit into the timeframe I wanted, I pushed the events on "General Hospital" back in time a few weeks. However, everything has still happened as it did on the show. Faison has been killed; Helena has left Port Charles to meet up with her crew of kidnappers who hold Lucky captive; Elizabeth has tested the waters of her friendship with Jason and he has left town; Luke and Felicia have been getting closer and Laura and Stefan have tested their own relationship. And then.......

Late in the Game

"Chessmates/Escape"

(February 12, 2000-Helena's yacht, ten miles from Manhattan harbor-10:30 PM)

"It's your move," Helena Cassadine drawled, sitting across the table from her prisoner. The perfectly manicured nails of her right hand tapped the marble tabletop while the fingers of her left hand traveled carefully over her captured chess pieces.

Lucky Spencer stared back at her, smiling sardonically. "I'm thinking," he told her. "You can't rush genius, Helena; you of all people should know that."

Helena laughed. "Now, young Spencer, we'll have none of that. You of all people should know that, while flattery will get you some places, it won't get you where you want to be."

Lucky leaned forward over the chessboard. "Just for future reference, where exactly will flattery get me?"

Reaching across the table, Helena gave Lucky's hand a pat. "That's a conversation for another day. We will have plenty of time together."

"Fine." Lucky moved his rook forward, and in two more moves he had Helena in checkmate.

"Very good, Lucky." Helena leaned back into her chair, folding her arms across her chest. "And now for your reward. What question do you have in mind?"

Lucky rolled his thoughts around his head, running his tongue along the back of his teeth to stall time. "After Manhattan, what is our next destination?" he finally asked her.

"Insightful as always," she replied. "We won't be in New York for long, only for an hour or so, and will immediately be heading for the Chesapeake Bay. We should be there by eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

Lucky's mind was already fast at work. His captor watched him carefully, trying to follow his thought process. They had only been together for a few weeks now, playing her wicked cat and mouse game. Even so, she was sure that she had a pretty good idea how his mind worked. She didn't think he would be stupid enough to be planning anything specific, only gathering all and any information for the future. Even so, she kept remembering her own advice: "Never underestimate Lucky Spencer."

"Is this answer satisfactory?" Helena asked him.

He smiled finally, resting his chin on his laced-together fingers. "Quite satisfactory, thank you," he said. "If it is the truth."

"Now, Lucky, you know that was our bargain." Helena sipped thoughtfully from her wine glass. "With each win you get one question and one truthful answer. And this is one bargain I am compelled to keep."

"Why, Madame Cassadine," Lucky started, "you're going to make me blush."

Helena's grin couldn't hide the fact that Lucky's confidence was a little unnerving to her. He was exactly like his father, and Luke Spencer was the only man to ever give her a challenge. Her guards had told her it had been a long time since Lucky had tried to escape. He had even stopped asking questions about his family, about the Webber girl. He seemed content to play her game and bide his time. But what was he biding time for?

Lucky stifled a yawn behind his hand. "Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll turn in for the night, unless you want to lose again."

"Your overconfidence is quite engaging, Lucky, but I wouldn't be so bold if I were you," Helena advised him. "I would hate to have your beautiful figure fall from grace."

Lucky's eyes narrowed, but only just. "Yes, I'm sure you would." He stood up from the table and walked off towards his room, never looking back, though Helena's eyes followed him until he disappeared from her sight. Something was definitely going on in his mind, something big. She only hoped she had enough time to find out what it was.

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Lucky sat up in his bed, counting the minutes and seconds. He was so concentrated, he could hear every separate beat of his heart, could feel the blood pumping in his veins. Tonight was the night. He knew it. If it didn't happen now, it might never happen. It had been almost a year. A year of his life that he had lost because of Helena Cassadine and her Jurassic vendetta against the Spencer family.

If his calculations were correct, it was almost Valentine's Day. For the first time in days he allowed himself to think of Elizabeth, and almost immediately tears sprang up and he had to choke down his sobs. He missed her so much, the pain of her absence was a physical thing, looming over him and threatening to consume him. He pulled a picture from his back pocket, something Helena's guards had given him on his birthday, her idea of a sick joke. Elizabeth was standing outside in her Kelly's apron, talking to Emily Quartermaine. Her hands were on her hips and she was laughing. She looked just like the Elizabeth he had left, the Elizabeth he had discovered from the frozen and terrified girl he'd found that night in the park. He wondered what her life was like now, if she had moved on. Part of him hoped that she had, that she wasn't hurting over his "death" anymore and was enjoying her life. The other part of him was terrified of the exact same thing. What if he came back to her, and she had completely moved on? What if she had fallen in love with someone else? These fears haunted his dreams most nights when he did dream. Other nights his sleep was silent and blank, a blessed relief whenever that happened.

Finally midnight rolled around, or what his body was telling him was midnight. It was now or never. He pulled on his coat, retrieved the slim knife from its hiding place and left the room without so much as a parting glance to the place he had lived for months.

As an act of faith, Helena had cut back his guard to only one man, a mistake she would be kicking herself over for months to come. Lucky snuck up on the one guard, snaked the steely silver blade up to his neck before his presence was ever detected.

"I don't think I need to run down the average threats, I'm sure you're familiar with them all," Lucky whispered in the guard's ear. "Let's just be a good boy and do what you're told."

The guard nodded carefully, and Lucky drew back the blade a few inches to let him move. "You won't get far," the guard warned. "She's ready for you."

Lucky shook his head. "Whatever I do when I get out of this hallway is of no concern to you. Whether I get off this damn boat alive or not has nothing to do with you. Now, what I need from you is to keep your trap shut and listen." Without waiting for a response he started pushing/leading the guard back into his room. "Check the top drawer of the nightstand," he suggested softly. The guard pulled open the drawer to find a set of handcuffs. He wondered for a moment where the prisoner had gotten his hand on handcuffs, but knew that such wondering was useless. He didn't have to wait for instructions and placed the cuffs around one wrist.

"Lock the other end around the bedpost," Lucky instructed. The guard did as he was told. "Good. I guess years with Helena trained you to respect orders." Once he was sure that the guard was secure, he hurried for the door.

"I'll see you soon," the guard called after him. He smiled callously. "That is unless Madame finally grows tired of you and your insolence and decides to get rid of you once and for all."

Lucky looked back over his shoulder only for a moment. "Don't hold your breath," he said. In a second he was gone, disappearing down the hallway into the darkness.