Fantastic S5 Episode 124(6/18/24)

At the mountain cabin, Lydia is sitting on the sofa when she hears footsteps outside. Lydia stands up just as the front door opens and Lucas walks in, carrying paper bags. “Hey, sorry I took so long. It took forever to be able to find a convenience store.” Lucas says. “One of the many perks of life away from civilization. No one saw or recognized you, right?” Lydia questions. “Obviously the cashier at the store saw me, but I didn't get the impression that he knew who I was. It helped that I had on my handy dandy sun glasses.” Lucas says. “Mmm. The mother of all disguises.” Lydia jokes. “You know, all of this secrecy and danger? It's actually kinda fun, I really have to admit that.” Lucas says. “Maybe it would be for me too if I weren't risking life in prison.” Lydia notes. “You won't have to worry about that because we're going to prove your innocence.” Lucas tells her. “Right, by somehow proving that Mia is alive. Have you figured out a way to lure her to us?” Lydia wonders. “Not yet, but I'm not going to worry about that tonight. You and I have far more important things on our plate tonight.” Lucas says. “Like what?” Lydia questions. “This is the first night in months that we'll be able to spend together, and despite the less than ideal circumstances, I want to make it special for you. So, I am going to cook you dinner, then after that we're going to go outside for some star gazing, and then after that…well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see where the night takes us.” Lucas says. “A home cooked meal does sound good. I think dog food would probably taste better than what they feed the inmates at Baronville.” Lydia says. “Tonight should be like heaven for you then.” Lucas says. “Every night is like heaven whenever I'm with you. After going two years without you, I've come to realize that.” Lydia says. “You won't have to go through that again. I'm going to make sure you don't spend one more day in prison, one way or another.” Lucas assures her. “Thank you.” Lydia says, before pulling Lucas into a kiss.

At Kristina's Boutique, Kristina is hanging up clothes on a rack when she hears the front door open. “We're closed!” Kristina calls out. “Even for your former father in law?” A familiar voice asks. Kristina turns around and spots Victor standing in the doorway. “Victor! This is a surprise.” Kristina notes. “I'm probably the last person you were expecting to walk in here.” Victor says. “Well we don't really sell your style of clothes.” Kristina jokes. Victor smiles. “I'm not here about clothes, I'm here about Brady.” Victor says. “Is everything good with him?” Kristina wonders. “I'm afraid not. I know the two of you haven't been together in quite some time, but I thought you should know that Brady has spent the past several months held captive.” Victor says. “What?! By who?” Kristina questions. “Lawrence Stanpatos.” Victor reveals.

At Fantastic Medical, Dannie is in the lobby walking towards the exit when Acerbi runs up behind them. “Dannie!” Acerbi calls out. Dannie turns around to face Acerbi. “What's up?” Dannie asks. “That is what I was about to ask you! What happened with Scarlett after I left the two of you alone? Anything?” Acerbi questions. “Nothing major. We talked briefly, I agreed to show her around town sometime.” Dannie says. “Is there anything you could tell me to help prepare me for what I'm going to be dealing with?” Acerbi wonders. “What do you mean?” Dannie asks. “The two of you met prior to when Scarlett came to the hospital, yes? Tell me about that! Perhaps there is something I can use to get rid of her!” Acerbi suggests. “I understand the two of you didn't get off on the right foot, but Scarlett really doesn't seem that bad.” Dannie says. “I'll be the judge of that myself.” Acerbi says. Dannie sighs. “Scarlett and I met at the Seashell Lounge. Kaylie and I went out for some drinks, it wasn't romantic before you ask, and Scarlett caught our attention when she bought the entire lounge a glass of the most expensive wine on the menu.” Dannie says. “I see. So on her first night in Fantastic City, Scarlett chose to spend it out clubbing and spending her money irresponsibly.” Acerbi says. “She was out having fun, that's hardly a crime.” Dannie states. “She is proving to me more and more that she is not the right choice to lead this hospital! Clearly she lacks the maturity necessary to hold such power in her hands.” Acerbi says. “If you say so.” Dannie says. “I know so! Just wait and see, she is going to screw up. And when she does, her rich and powerful daddy will realize what a mistake he made by giving her this job and he will drag her back to Australia.” Acerbi says. “That sounds more like a fantasy of yours than reality.” Dannie notes. “A fantasy today, reality tomorrow! She won't last long, I can see it already.” Acerbi says. The front doors swing open and paramedics roll Andy in on a stretcher. “Andy?!” A horrified Dannie asks. Rebecca runs in behind them. “What happened?!” Acerbi questions. “The victim has been shot, he's lost a lot of blood.” The paramedic says. “Get him to an operating room now!” Acerbi demands. The paramedics wheel Andy away and Acerbi follows. Rebecca goes to follow but Dannie stops her. “Rebecca, what happened?! How did Andy get shot?” Dannie questions. “Lawrence shot him.” Rebecca reveals. “What?!” A shocked Dannie asks. “We were trying to get Ava back from him, and then things went horribly wrong and Lawrence was going to shoot Ava…” Rebecca says, sobbing. “Okay, slow down. Take a deep breath.” Dannie urges. “Andy pulled out his gun and Lawrence turned his gun on Andy.” Rebecca says. “Where is Lawrence now?” Dannie questions. “I-I really have no idea. He took off with Ava, with Harper, I guess he has Dylan too…” Rebecca says. “Oh my goodness! Why is he doing all of this?!” Dannie wonders. “I’m guessing he wants all of his family together for when he puts the final phase of his plan into motion.” Rebecca says. Ciara comes through the front doors and rushes over to Rebecca and Dannie. “How’s Andy?” Ciara questions. Rebecca glares at Ciara. “I have to go and check on him.” Rebecca coldly states, before turning and walking away. Dannie turns towards Ciara. “How did you find out about Andy? Did Rebecca call you?” Dannie questions. “I…I was sort of close by when the shooting happened.” Ciara says. “I see. Well, I should probably go and see if I can find anything out about what’s going on with Andy. Would you like to come with me?” Dannie wonders. “Uh…yeah, sure.” Ciara says.

In the operating room, Andy is lying unconscious on the table as Acerbi is dressed in hospital scrubs, examining the wound. “I’ve found the bullet. I’m going to attempt to remove it.” Acerbi says. “Attempt?” A nurse asks. “The bullet just missed the patient’s heart, removing it could prove difficult.” Acerbi admits. Suddenly, the machines begin beeping faster. “We’re losing him!” Acerbi shouts.

At the mountain cabin, Lucas and Lydia are sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner. “Now probably isn’t a good time to bring this up, but there’s a bit of news I’ve been meaning to share with you.” Lucas tells her. “Good news or bad news?” Lydia questions. “It probably depends on who you ask…Zoey is dead.” Lucas reveals. “What?! What happened?” Lydia wonders. “She was killed a couple of weeks ago. I meant to tell you sooner, but there’s just been so much else going on.” Lucas says. “Do they have any idea who did it?” Lydia wonders. “I’ve been following the case on the news and they haven’t said anything.” Lucas says. “Oh my god…Lucas, I am so sorry.” Lydia says. “For what?” Lucas wonders. “I know Zoey hasn’t exactly been kind to us these last few years, but there was a time long ago where you loved her.” Lydia notes. Lucas sighs. “Yeah, there was…even though she has caused us a lot of problems since coming to Fantastic, I would’ve never wished this kind of fate on her. In fact, if I’m being honest, the part of me that used to love her was hoping that someday she would be able to find redemption. Now she’ll never get that chance.” Lucas says. “Well I hope that wherever she is, she’s found some sort of peace.” Lydia says. “Yeah…me too. I’m sorry for bringing down the mood, I just thought it was time to finally get it out of the way and tell you.” Lucas says. “Don’t apologize, I’m glad you told me.” Lydia says. “Well I’d prefer not to dwell on it for too long. This is our first night together in months, I don’t want to spend the entire evening talking about my ex fiancee. I have an idea, let’s talk about the future.” Lucas says. “Do I even have one of those?” Lydia wonders. “Yes, you do. Once we prove you didn’t kill Mia in cold blood, you’re going to be freed and we’ll finally get our happily ever after.” Lucas says. “To be perfectly honest, I haven’t really thought about what my future will look like after I get past this mess, mostly because I wasn’t even sure I would have one. I mean, I can’t exactly go back to work since Dylan stole Masters Corp.” Lydia notes. “You could always try to get control back from him. Maybe you could even offer to buy back your shares from him.” Lucas suggests. “Yeah, I guess I could. Do you want to know what I’m looking forward to the most once I’m free?” Lydia asks. “What’s that?” Lucas wonders. “Marrying you, this time for real.” Lydia says. “That’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it? I’m looking forward to it too.” Lucas says. “And then maybe we can finally have our happily ever after.” Lydia says. “Or whatever Fantastic City’s version of a happily ever after is.” Lucas says. Lydia sighs. “I know, our chances of living a drama free life in this city are slim to none, huh? But what if we didn’t even try?” Lydia asks. “What are you saying? That we accept the fact that our lives are going to be filled with dilemmas and problems for as long as we live in this city?” Lucas wonders. “I’m saying that maybe we could move. Obviously I mean once this is all over, once we’ve gotten remarried and once I take back Masters Corp from Dylan if at all possible. We certainly have the money, we could go literally anywhere in the world! I mean, what’s actually keeping us here? Your two siblings are both in jail and you aren’t on speaking terms with either of them, both of my sisters live on the other side of the planet. What’s stopping us from just one day packing up and moving to a different country? We could go to Italy, or Greece…” Lydia suggests. “You’re being serious.” Lucas realizes. “Do you not like the idea of leaving?” Lydia asks. “I’m not gonna lie and say I wouldn’t miss Fantastic if we were to leave. This place has been my home for the past ten years. But…I also seem to remember my life running a lot smoother before I moved to Fantastic.” Lucas says. “Which is saying a lot since you used to be a mob boss.” Lydia jokes. Lucas chuckles. “Besides, it’s not like we’d be saying goodbye forever. We could always come and visit, right? I’m sure just visiting wouldn’t mean we’d be affected by the great Fantastic City curse.” Lydia says. “It’s a curse now, huh?” Lucas asks. “Oh come on, it has to be.” Lydia says. Lucas smiles. “Well no matter where we choose to live, I know that I’m going to be happy as long as you’re there with me.” Lucas says. “That’s the spirit. You know…for the first time in I can’t even remember how long, I actually feel optimistic about the future. I am going to beat this, and we are going to have our happily ever after.” Lydia says. “Count on it.” Lucas says, before leaning across the table and kissing her.

At Kristina’s Boutique, Kristina is shocked by what Victor just told her. “Lawrence was using Brady as leverage to get Ciara to do his bidding?” Kristina asks. “Mmhm. That’s the whole reason Lawrence had Brady’s leg cut off, because he believed that Ciara had tried double crossing him.” Victor says. “That evil son of a bitch! I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised though, kidnapping people has always been Lawrence’s thing. He was holding me hostage at Acerbi’s clinic before I even came to Fantastic! How is Brady holding up?” Kristina wonders. “He’s putting on a brave face. I’m not really sure how authentic it is. My son is a strong one, but there’s only so much one person is able to take.” Victor says. “Are you worried he could fall off the wagon again?” Kristina questions. “The thought has crossed my mind. I’m going to try and keep an eye on him.” Victor says. “You can’t keep him under surveillance 24/7.” Kristina points out. Victor’s phone begins to ring and he checks the caller ID. “Excuse me for a moment, it’s Ciara.” Victor says. Victor answers the phone. “Hi sweetie, is everything okay?...Oh my god, is he okay?...Don’t worry, I’m on my way.” Victor says, before hanging up. “That didn’t sound good.” Kristina observes. “Andy has been shot.” Victor reveals. “What?! By who?” Kristina wonders. “Take a wild guess.” Victor urges. “Lawrence?! Oh my god, this is nuts!” Kristina shouts. “I need to get over to the hospital to find out how he’s doing. Listen, I know you and Brady aren’t together anymore and I respect that, but if you could maybe go and check on him, see how he’s doing, I think he would really appreciate that.” Victor says. “Yeah, sure. Hey, if you see Rebecca, give her my love.” Kristina says. “Will do. See you later.” Victor says, before walking out.

In a waiting room at the hospital, Rebecca is on the phone. “Last I had heard, Andy is still in surgery. I should warn you though that it…didn’t look good. You should probably get here as soon as you can…okay, I’ll see you soon King Beast…Yeah, I love you too.” Rebecca says, before hanging up. Ciara walks in. “I want to be alone right now.” Rebecca tells her. “You sure that’s it? Or is it just that you don’t want me around?” Ciara wonders. Rebecca doesn’t respond. “I get it. I just wanted to see how Andy was doing, assuming you’ve heard anything.” Ciara says. “Why? Feeling guilty?” Rebecca wonders. “I’m worried about him.” Ciara admits. “You should be worried! You didn’t see him after Lawrence had shot him, you didn’t see all of the blood! The paramedics weren’t even sure he’d make it to the hospital! And do you know something? This all could have been avoided if you had just listened to me!” Rebecca snaps. “Rebecca, I-” Ciara begins to say. “Don’t you dare try to justify any of this! My husband is in that operating room, fighting for his life, and it’s all because you and Dylan couldn’t just stay home and let Andy and I handle this! At least Dylan had an excuse though, he was trying to rescue his own daughter! What’s your excuse?” Rebecca wonders. “I was trying to help him.” Ciara says. “You didn’t. All you did was make things worse. Lawrence has the three diamond jewels, he’s kidnapped Ava, Dylan, and Harper, and now Andy could die! All you had to do was sit this one out! If you had just done that, my daughter would be home and my husband wouldn’t be fighting for his life on the operating room table!” Rebecca notes. “That wasn’t an option for me! Your plan was to rescue Ava, that’s it! It didn’t include rescuing Harper from Lawrence, it didn’t include stopping him from collecting the three diamond jewels! In fact, your plan involved giving him the remaining two jewels!” Ciara points out. “You don’t think I was planning on catching up with him and stopping him?!” Rebecca questions. “HOW?! We have no idea where Lawrence is going after this!” Ciara notes. “I would’ve been able to pick up his trail faster had it not been for my husband being shot! That’s on YOU!” Rebecca yells. “I’m sorry about what happened to Andy, but I’m not gonna apologize for trying to take down a man who has been terrorizing this city for years!” Ciara states. “Oh my god! I can’t believe you still don’t see the problem! You were reckless, Ciara! How could you not have predicted that Lawrence would have his people stationed all around that forest?! Do you think it never crossed his mind that we may bring backup and attempt to double cross him? Of course it did! He hasn’t gotten this far by being stupid! I can’t say the same thing about you though, what you did was incredibly stupid! Now thanks to you, Lawrence has three hostages, he has the three diamond jewels, and Andy is in the hospital! I hope you’re proud of yourself!” Rebecca shouts. Victor walks in. “What in the hell is going on in here? I could here you shouting from down the hall!” Victor notes. “Your daughter is the reason Andy might die!” Rebecca yells. “Rebecca, please…” Ciara urges. “GET OUT! With everything going on right now, the last thing I want is to have to look at you!” Rebecca yells. Victor puts his hand on Ciara’s back. “Come on, let’s go find somewhere quiet to talk.” Victor urges. Ciara nods. Victor leads Ciara towards the door but then turns back towards Rebecca. “Please keep me informed with whatever happens with Andy.” Victor says. Rebecca nods. “Sure…” Rebecca mutters. Victor and Ciara exit the room. Once alone, Rebecca sits down and buries her face in her hands, silently crying into them. Rebecca hears the door open and she looks up in time to see Acerbi walking in. “Acerbi! Do you have an update on Andy? How is he?” Rebecca wonders.

In another waiting room, Victor is sitting across from Ciara. “I really screwed up this time, Dad. I’m not sure Rebecca is ever gonna want to talk to me again.” Ciara says. “She’s going through a lot right now. I’m sure a lot of the things she said to you is the anger talking.” Victor notes. “Maybe, but what if Andy dies? What if she’s never able to find where Lawrence took Ava? She’s not gonna forgive me for any of this! I might not even be able to forgive myself!” Ciara states. “We have to try and stay positive. Andy has been in life threatening situations before and he’s come through with flying colors, we have to believe that this time won’t be any different. As for Ava, we’ll find her too.” Victor says. “Yeah…” Ciara mutters. “Listen, I know that you’ve all been trying to keep everything concerning Lawrence under wraps in order to keep people safe, but I think it’s high time you go to the police.” Victor says. “The cops know about Lawrence, not that it’s gonna make any difference. I’m sure he’s long gone by now, and now that he has everything he wanted, he’s never coming back to Fantastic.” Ciara says. “Do you have any idea what he plans on doing with those three diamond jewels?” Victor wonders. “I don’t have a clue, but it can’t be anything good! Madeline Masters tried to use those jewels to cause a global heat wave strong enough to kill off the world’s population. With Lawrence wanting those jewels so badly, that means he plans on doing something just as bad, if not worse, than what Madeline was planning.” Ciara says. “This whole world is in peril and they don’t even realize it…” Victor notes. “He won’t win. I am going to hunt that bastard down and I am going to make him pay for all the damage I caused. Rebecca might not be able to forgive me for what happened to Andy and Ava, but the least I can do is take out Lawrence for her.” Ciara says.

Before Acerbi can answer Rebecca, Dannie walks in. “There you both are. Is there any news on Andy?” Dannie wonders. “Acerbi was just about to tell me how the surgery went.” Rebecca reveals. “Andy made it through the surgery.” Acerbi reveals. Rebecca breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god…” Rebecca says. “With that being said, he coded four separate times while on the operating table. I’m going to be honest with you, it is an absolute miracle that he survived the surgery.” Acerbi admits. “But he’s going to be okay, right?” Rebecca asks. “I never said that. The bullet has been removed, but he is still unable to breathe on his own. We have him on a ventilator currently.” Acerbi says. “What’s his current condition?” Dannie wonders. “He’s stable.” Acerbi tells them. “Am I able to see him?” Rebecca questions. “Of course. Right this way.” Acerbi urges.

In Andy’s hospital room, Andy is lying unconscious in the dark, a ventilator feeding air into his lungs. The door opens and Acerbi and Rebecca walk in. “He’s so still…” Rebecca observes. “I’ll leave you with him.” Acerbi says, before walking out and closing the door behind her. Rebecca grabs a chair, places it next to Andy’s bedside, and sits down. “Tonight definitely didn’t go the way we had planned, did it? This is just so wrong…you shouldn’t be here. You should be at home, Ava should be at home, Lawrence should be rotting in a cell. None of this was supposed to happen…” Rebecca notes. Rebecca grabs Andy’s hand. “As painful as this is though, I’m not going to let it distract me. Our daughter is still missing, and I know you’d want me out there looking for her. I’m going to bring Ava home, Andy. I’m also going to make sure that Lawrence can never hurt anyone ever again. After what happened with Andre, I swore I would never cross that line again, but Lawrence crossed a line when he kidnapped Ava, when he shot you, when he kidnapped a little baby. When I find Lawrence, I’m not going to arrest him. It’s the same deal as it was with Andre, there is no prison in the world capable of holding someone that evil. There’s only one way to stop a man like Lawrence, and that’s with a bullet. He’s not going to escape this time, his time is officially up.” Rebecca tells Andy, before resting her head on his chest…