Author's notes: Lyrics are "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles. Rach & goblz- thank you as always! :D


When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
I get to the top
And I go for a ride
I get to the bottom
And I do it again

The flight back to Port Charles, neither Frisco nor Anna spoke. He knew what was on her mind. No matter what she said, she was worried about Faison. The orchids had shaken her. Hell, they'd shaken him too. He'd so wanted to believe it was someone else. Now, he didn't know what to be ready for. They had no idea what Faison's motivations were this time around.

An agent was waiting for them as the small jet landed. Frisco handed her the WSB gear he'd taken to Pine Valley, keeping the files himself. "Get these to the print lab immediately," he ordered, giving the young agent the evidence bag containing the orchids. "The witness's prints are already in the system and linked in the case file. They should have access."

"Yes, sir," she answered.

Frisco watched her and her partner load the gear into their car and drive away. He reboarded the plane to help Anna with her things. She only brought back a couple suitcases and boxes. Just few enough for the two to carry them to his car without help.

"A Mustang, Frisco?" she said with amusement when they reached the car. "Going through a mid-life crisis?"

"No crisis, I just like fast cars."

"Uh huh."

Anna was quiet through the drive back to Frisco's house. It was clear she was taking in the town she hadn't seen in over ten years. He was used to Port Charles, but it was probably a bit of a change from what it looked like in 1992. "You should see the house now, what Felicia's done with it," he said, tiring of the silence.

"She sent me pictures. It looks nice. Very... Felicia," Anna answered distractedly. "Where's your place?"

"It's Robert and Holly's old townhouse, actually." Anna didn't say anything, but Frisco thought he could almost see her reaction in the darkness without even looking at her. He wanted to kick himself for mentioning Robert, much less with Holly. "It was either that or kick Sonny Corinthos out of Sean's old penthouse."

"Why not somewhere else?"

"The secret room..."

She smiled sadly. "Of course." They turned onto his street. There were cars packed along the street and a stereo blaring in the background. "Looks like somebody's having a party."

As he drove slowly down the street, he had a sneaking suspicion who was throwing it. "Looks like I am." Maxie is so dead, he thought.

"How old is Maxie again?"

"Old enough to take advantage of the old man being out of town."

Luckily no one had parked in the driveway, except Maxie, of course. They got out of the car, leaving her things inside. He walked into the house made a beeline for the stereo. He hit the power button, pulling out his badge. "Anyone who doesn't want to spend the night in lockup has 60 seconds to clear out," he said, holding his badge high in the air.

The teens rushed for the door, pushing their way through as fast as they could. It'd be amusing if Frisco wasn't so pissed off. He watched Lucas and Serena try and sneak through the crowd. "Not so fast you two," he said, pulling them to sofa and gesturing for them to sit. "Where's the ring leader?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Uncle Frisco," Lucas said, his voice cracking anxiously.

Frisco shook his head. The kid couldn't lie to save his life. It was an admirable trait, but laughable, a Jerome that couldn't lie through his teeth. Hell, a Jones or a Spencer that couldn't lie through their teeth was completely unbelievable. "You gotta learn to lie better, Lucas. I know you didn't do this on your own. Maxie is the only one of you that knows how to get through the security system. Now where is she?"

"Upstairs with Kyle," the teenager answered defeatedly, looking down.

"Watch these two," Frisco told Anna and headed upstairs. The doors to his and Georgie's rooms were open. He knocked on Maxie's door, ignoring the moaning coming from inside. "You have 30 seconds to get dressed and get your ass out here," he growled. He could hear shuffling around, as they scrambled to get their clothes on. He glared icily at Kyle as the kid sheepishly left quickly, only sneaking a glance at Frisco.

Maxie stomped to the doorway, still only half dressed. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" she spat.

"One, your father. Two, the owner of this house, who did not approve any party."

"Oh please! It's a little late to start playing Dad, Frisco. You've never bothered to care before."

"Don't even go there, Maxie!" Frisco growled. "That's bullshit and you know it. Being a brat isn't going to get you out of trouble, sweetheart."

"I hate you!" she screamed, slamming the door in his face. "I wish you'd never come home!"

He opened the door, slamming it against the wall. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her downstairs.

"Hey!" she protested.

"You don't get to be offended right now."

He threw her on the sofa next to the other two teens. "Where are you three supposed to be tonight?"

"Maxie's," Serena answered.

"Dad's," Lucas said next.

"Mom's not even home," Maxie muttered, her arms and legs crossed angrily.

"Where is she?" Frisco demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "Out with Ned."

"Who's with Georgie?"

"Lulu's spending the night. They're fine."

God, he wanted to slap her. "Are you supposed to be babysitting them?" he asked, but he knew the answer.

"They're fine! They can take care of themselves!" the young woman argued.

"Okay, here's the deal. I don't know what's Scott's going to do to you, Serena, but you two," he pointed at Lucas and Maxie, "are grounded. All three of you are staying here tonight and cleaning this place up in the morning. And you're calling the parental units to tell them where you are and why exactly you won't be home tonight."

"Mom's not home," Maxie reminded him.

"You're getting out of that duty. I'll call her on her cell phone," he answered, emphasis on the last part.

"Dad's on duty tonight," Lucas said, trying to get out of calling.

"So call the hospital," Frisco replied, throwing his nephew his cell phone. Looking at his daughter, he said, "Don't move from that spot. You and me are going to have a little chat when I get off the phone."

Frisco walked back towards the empty study, triggering the hidden door in the hallway. He plopped down in the simple chair and picked up phone on the desk, dialing Felicia's cell number.

"You were a little harsh, don't you think?" Anna said, leaning in the doorway.

"No. They made a mess of my house. I don't think it's too much to ask that they clean it up."

"I meant Maxie."

"She deserves it. She's lucky I didn't just shoot her or the scumbag she was having sex with."

Before Anna could respond, Felicia answered. "Hello?"

"It's Frisco."

"Hi."

He couldn't tell if she was happy or upset to be hearing from him. Honestly he didn't know how to feel about it either. No matter, he wasn't calling just to chat. "I thought I'd let you know Maxie threw a party at my house tonight."

"She what?" she asked, her voice low and too calm.

This tone he knew. Felicia was not a happy camper. "I'm sure they can take care of themselves, but she left Georgie and Lulu alone."

Felicia sighed angrily. "No, they can't take care of themselves. They always find new ways to cause trouble. That's why I don't leave them alone together and Maxie knows that."

"You want me to run over and check on them?"

"No, just send Maxie back home and tell her I'll be there in a bit."

"Uh, I already told her she had to stay here to clean up with Lucas and Serena. I'm only like two minutes away, I'll go over and stay with the girls until you get home."

"Just call them and see how they're doing. I can be there in a few minutes."

Now that he thought about it, Maxie was probably right. The girls probably were okay. "If they'd gotten themselves in trouble, I'm sure you would've heard about it by now. Georgie is probably being a little angel so she can blackmail Maxie later. I pulled that one on my brother a few times."

"Let me know how long you ground her for."

He was surprised. Even when he lived with Felicia and the girls, she had handled most of the discipline. "I hadn't thought about it. I just figured you'd..."

"It's your house, Frisco."

Yeah, it was, he thought with a sigh. His house, his daughter, his responsibility. "Well, I guess I'll figure something out then."

"Thank you for letting me know."

"Sorry about interrupting your date. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He hung up the phone to find Anna leaning against the desk next to him. He looked up at her, but said nothing.

"You going to go a little easier on her? You should understand her," she said.

"I do understand. That's why I'm not going to let her get away with this."

"Are you being rough on her because of what you did at her age?"

"At her age I was selling drugs and whatever else I could to pay for a cheap room with holes in the drywall and pet rats and cockroaches so I wasn't sleeping on the street." He sighed. "I pulled the same stunts when I was living at home, after Mom got sick. I used whatever excuse I could come up with to weasel out of a punishment. Believe me, I said a lot of hurtful things out of anger. Dad and Tony pretty much let me get away with murder because of it. So I understand very well. Maxie's not getting out of this because she said she hates me. Been there, done that." Anna just raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Frisco had an excellent idea of what was going through her mind. "I'm not being hypocritical, Anna. It's not like I'm going any harder on her than Felicia would. Hell, she'd probably be worse because I have no idea what to do," he said, lying his head down. "I've never had to punish my kids before. I never even punished BJ or Robin."

"Poor baby has to do his job," she teased.

Frisco glared at her. "If you don't watch it, I'll make you go stay with the Quartermaines."

Anna shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time I've had to play referee in that house."

~*~

Lucas and Serena had gone to bed - Lucas on the sofa and Serena in Maxie's room - and Maxie had gone up to his room when Frisco finally emerged from the secret room. As he walked through the dark living room, he spotted his nephew's head pop up over the top of the sofa.

"Night, Lucas," he said softly.

"I'm sorry about the party, Uncle Frisco."

"It's okay, kiddo. You get your dad called?"

"He was busy so I left him a message. Execution postponed till tomorrow, I guess."

"It won't be that bad. It's not like he never threw a party when our parents were out of town."

"He told me he never did anything like that."

"If he tells you that again, I've got a name for you. Beth Evers."

"Who's she?"

"He'll know. Good night."

He walked upstairs to his own room. He found Maxie laying on his bed, asleep, or at least he thought she was. He sighed, standing in doorway watching her. Even in sleep she looked troubled. Guilt gnawed at his heart. He was responsible for it. He had been the one that hurt her. His own daughter.

"I know you're there," she said moodily, opening her eyes.

"Give the attitude a rest, Maxie. I'm getting really sick of it."

"As if I care."

Frisco closed the door behind him. "What do expect to accomplish by acting like this?" She didn't bother to look at or answer him. "You think if you piss me off enough I'll leave and you can go back to hating me again, is that it?" She rolled over, trying to ignore him. "I've been down that road, believe it or not. It's not easy, it's not pretty and the only one who's going to get hurt is you."

"Don't you have any terrorists to bust?"

"Lucky for you they're in Port Charles. I don't have to go looking for them anymore."

"So why don't you go bug them instead of hassling me?"

"Oh, sorry to interfere with your social life. God forbid I be worried about my daughter." He knew what was coming next. "We're not having that discussion again."

She sat up, still facing away from him. "Mac is my dad. He was the one that was there for me when I was growing up. He was the one that came to my games, my school plays, my parent-teacher conferences. He was the one that hugged me when I needed it and held me when I had nightmares. He did everything you were supposed to because you weren't here. You didn't care. You were off trying to save the world. You can't just come back like nothing happened and try to replace him."

He couldn't argue with most of what she said. Mac was everything he wasn't, but should've been. He knew that, he didn't need Maxie to remind him. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He felt the burning of tears waiting to fall.

"This has nothing to do with Mac," he said, trying desperately to hold back the emotions threatening overwhelm him.

"It has everything to do with Mac."

"No, it doesn't. I can't replace him, I know that, nor do I even want to. What happens between us, it doesn't affect your relationship with him. I'm glad he was there and you didn't end up with someone like my stepmother." He sat on the bed a couple feet away from her, hoping she wouldn't turn away from him again. "I wasn't there. I can't argue that and you have all rights to be mad at me for it. That's a regret I will have to live with for the rest of my life." He tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shrug him off or move. Frisco took that as a good sign. "But I did care, Maxie. I always cared. You and Georgie, you're my daughters. There's nothing on this earth that I love more than you girls."

She turned her head to look at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "Then why did you leave?"

He felt his stomach tighten. He couldn't give Felicia, Tony or himself an answer to that question, what the hell was he supposed to tell her? The least he owed her after all this time was the truth. "I don't even know anymore. There are answers I can't give you, things I don't understand myself. It's..." He dropped his hand, sighing. "It's complicated."

"Gee, that's helpful."

"You're not a child anymore, Maxie. You should know by now how things can get screwed up. Hell, I've been home long enough for you to have a good idea how screwed up I am. A lot of that comes from before I even moved to Port Charles..."

"You're fucked in the head, you had a terrible life, blah, blah, blah. That's why you had to leave the children you claim to love more than anything else on earth." She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "That is such complete bullshit."

Frisco shot up off the bed. "What the fuck do you want me to tell you?" he yelled with a ferocity that frightened Maxie. Images of his father flashed in his mind, but Frisco just couldn't fight the rage that was beginning to boil within him. "That I'm sorry? Well, I am sorry! I'm trying to be honest with you! The least you can do is listen to me!"

The memories wouldn't leave his mind. Andrew Sr.'s drunken binges and watching him stumble in at midnight barely able to walk. The yelling, smashing anything the old man could get his hands on, slapping the wife and kid around a bit, blowing up at the smallest thing. Tony rushing into his room and pushing him into a spare closet to hide when their father had come home pissed off. The fights he'd picked at school to cover up the bruises when Tony came home from college and med school. The constant apologies and promises from his father that he would never do it again, promises that only lasted until the next binge.

Frisco paced like a caged tiger, shaking with an anger he couldn't control. He had tried to block out all those childhood memories in a desperate attempt to remember the man his father was when he was sober. In his mind now, they only fueled his rage. He looked around frantically, running both hands through his hair, brushing it out of his face. When he felt the first hot tear roll down his cheek, the dam broke. He grabbed the first thing within reach and threw it against the far wall.

Maxie shrieked as an alarm clock flew well over her head and smashed into the wall a few feet away from her. She looked in fear between her enraged father and the damage he'd left on the wall.

Anna rushed into the room. "What's going on in here? Are you okay?" she asked, glancing between father and daughter. Neither answered her, but Maxie looked scared to death and Frisco looked angrier than she'd ever seen him. "Frisco, answer me," she demanded gently as possible. "Please."

Her voice seemed to knock a little sense into Frisco. He couldn't stay here, he had to get away. He just couldn't face Maxie now. "I'm going to Luke's," he muttered as he stormed out of the room, past startled Serena and Lucas in the hall and out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

As soon as she heard the front door slam and her father's car peel out of the driveway, Maxie broke down. Anna sat next to the scared teen and put an arm around her goddaughter, letting the girl cry.

"What happened, Maxie?"

"I don't know. We were arguing and he was upset, then all of a sudden he was yelling and he threw the clock at me..." Maxie sobbed.

Anna pulled away, holding the girl by the shoulders. "He threw a clock at you?" she asked, stunned.

"Well, not at me, exactly. It went way over my head. I don't think he was aiming at anything."

The British agent looked back at the two teens in the doorway. "Lucas, when does your father get off-duty?"

"I'm not sure," he answered quietly. "But he shouldn't be off yet."

"Did Frisco grab his cell phone?"

"I don't think so."

"You two think you can look after Maxie?" Anna asked the couple, standing up.

"I'll be okay," Maxie answered, still emotional.

"Lucas, I want you to call Luke. Tell him that Frisco is on his way over and to keep him there until I get there. If he has any problems, I'm taking Frisco's cell phone. Got it?" He nodded. She started to walk out of the room, but stopped in the doorway and turned back to the three teens. "This doesn't leave this house, okay? Tony and I will take care of this. If anyone else needs to know about it, he and I will handle it. The three of you aren't to say anything to anyone. Is that understood?" The teens agreed silently. "Alright. You've got the number, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."

Anna headed down the stairs quickly, grabbing Frisco's phone from where Lucas had left it on the coffee table.

She was almost to the door when Maxie reached the bottom of the stairs. "Anna!" she said.

The older woman turned around, realizing what she was missing.

"Take my car," the girl said, tossing her the keys. "Anna?"

"Yes, Maxie?"

The teen looked at her godmother fearfully, her arms crossed. "Tell my dad I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"The party, getting him so upset," she answered sheepishly.

Anna went over to the girl and hugged her. She cupped the girl's face. "You aren't responsible for his anger, Maxie. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. All he wanted me to do was listen to him and I wouldn't do it. I had to open my big mouth." Anna opened her mouth to speak, but Maxie stopped her. "Just give him the message, okay?" she said, then turned and went back upstairs.

Anna watched the girl retreat to her room in silence before leaving herself. This wasn't the Frisco she knew. He had always had a bit of a temper, but never like this. She had to know what was going on in his head.