Editing Luke and Laura (section)

===Marital woes (1998–2002)===
Laura returns in 1998 to discover Nikolas has been shot in front of Luke's club as a result of Luke's ties to Sonny Corinthos. She also discovers Nikolas told Lucky about Luke raping her, devastating Lucky who has fallen in love with rape victim [[Elizabeth Webber]] ([[Rebecca Herbst]]). Lucky slowly works towards repairing his relationship with his parents. Laura and Luke eventually separate when the truth about her past with Stefan is revealed, leading to Stefan and Bobbie divorcing. The marriage is further tested when Lucky appears to die in a fire, which the couple blame on Sonny. Helena, however, has kidnapped Lucky. She begins to brainwash him. Laura begins a relationship with Stefan. However, when Luke learns Lucky is alive, they suspect Stefan may have been involved in his disappearance. Laura ends things. The two focus all their energies on finding their son. When they do, they work together to help him recover from Helena's manipulations. Along the way, they must again deal with Jennifer Smith, now played by [[Sally Struthers]].

The kidnapping of Lucky was a distraction for Helena's real plan, the revival of her presumed dead son Stavros (now [[Robert Kelker-Kelly]]), who had been cryogenically frozen. Stavros once again pursues the Ice Princess in another plot to take over the world. Luke and Laura continue to reach out to Lucky (then-[[Jacob Young]]). When Stefan disappears and is presumed dead, Luke is the main suspect. Felicia reveals that she and Luke were having sex when Stefan went missing. Laura finally realizes she and Luke are over. She begins a new relationship with her first husband Scott Baldwin, making Luke jealous. The Spencers reconnect while trying to help Lucky. In the end Stavros falls to his death in a seemingly bottomless pit after struggling with Luke. Unable to deny the history between them, Luke tries to get back together with Laura after their divorce is final. Luke and Laura eventually reconcile and plan to marry again. Lesley's philandering former husband and Laura's beloved step-father [[Rick Webber]] ([[Chris Robinson (American actor)|Chris Robinson]]) returns to Port Charles. Laura begins to have disturbing flashbacks to when she was a young teen and in love with Scott. Laura starts to believe Rick had killed his former lover Theresa in the attic of their family home. Before her wedding, while trying to recover her memories of that night, Laura appears to kill Rick, who she thinks is attacking her. Scott reveals Laura had killed Theresa when she discovered the two in a compromising position. He and Rick had drugged her and covered up the murder.

Laura, unable to cope with her role in two deaths, loses touch with reality. In 2002, Luke is forced to commit Laura to an insane asylum. As his presence only makes things worse, he gives Nikolas power of attorney over all of her medical decisions. Eventually, Laura slips into a catatonic state.