AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you once again for your continued support and patience as I write this story. I would just like to take a moment to shout out to all the guest reviewers who sign their reviews so I can see their usernames but because as you have written your reviews as a guest, I cannot respond to you personally but I would like to say a massive thank you for your reviews, comments and continued support as it is always nice to hear when someone likes what you have written. I also want to send a specific shout out to the guest reviewers 'JB' and 'Red77' - You have consistently commented and offered positive comments and feedback for this story, so thanks.

With that in mind I would like to take a moment to respond to Red77's latest review and the points they raised. My intention for the beginning of the last chapter was to show that both Carrick and Mia had 'learnt their lesson' for want of a better phrase. I wanted to show that Mia whilst being an annoying self-centred entitled brat really does care and her previous actions and behaviour were due to miscommunication and assumptions which led to resentment which came out as massive levels of selfishness – which was then rectified in an earlier chapter. I also wanted to show that Carrick has also changed after his 'confrontation' with Ana and subsequently his talk with Christian and how whilst he still has the mindset of a lawyer he is now using it to educate himself on the mental health issues Christian has been diagnosed with, so he can have the knowledge to support his son and I also wanted to show that despite his talk with Christian he still harbours a degree of guilt for his past 'failings'. I wanted to show how his lawyer brain has processed that, apportioning blame to all the relevant parties he sees at fault including himself and Grace. Finally, I wanted to show Grace still drowning in negativity for her past failings and how that is colouring her reaction to situations now. I hoped that I nailed what I set out to do and from what Red77 put in their review it seems I did.

Anyway, back to the story…

CHAPTER 46

(ANA)

"Hi, Uncle Arnie". I hug the tall military man in front of me and look up into his smiling face. "Thank you so much for doing this" I add.

He smiles down at me indulgently, "No problem, I am looking forward to this" he says with a grin. "Did you have a good flight?" he asks.

I nod, "We did thank you; it didn't take long to fly up here from San Diego, and thank you for getting permission for us to land here on the base" I say.

Arnie waves his hand dismissively and tells us that it was his pleasure. With that I pull away and he leads us down a corridor and shows us into a small room. Inside are some chairs, a table and what appears to be a two-way mirror. Christian and Gideon are hovering watching everything with shrewd eyes but not saying a word. Elliot is also incredibly quiet, and has been all morning.

"We will be putting Frank in there and then when you are ready Elliot, you can go in and say your piece. Everyone else will all be watching and listening from here. He is expecting Annie and Eva so don't be surprised if you don't get a warm reception from him".

Elliot nods, "Thank you" he replies simply. Then he looks towards the room, "He won't be able to do anything will he, after this meeting?" he adds. I wonder what he means and I glance at Eva who also looks slightly confused by his words, she meets my gaze and shrugs.

Arnie looks at Elliot in confusion, "I don't understand" he begins.

Elliot is quiet for a moment and then after taking a shot look at me and then Eva he sighs and starts to speak. "When he met Ana and Eva he went running to the media to broadcast the fact. I don't want any blow back. Not for me, I don't care what he could do to me as it really wouldn't affect me… but more for my birth mother. She has made it clear that she wants to remain anonymous citing Frank's behaviour and the way Ana and Eva had to face the media after he outed them as his daughters. She has a family who have no idea about her past and I know she wants to keep it that way so I don't want any chance of him doing anything which could bring her to the attention of the media" Elliot explains. I look at Eva once more and we both realise he is trying to protect his birth mother and I wonder briefly if he really is as at peace with her decision not to meet him as he is making out.

Arnie nods, "Aah I see, well rest assured he won't be able to do anything like that this time. He is in prison and a military prison at that and so as such doesn't have any means to make contact with the media. We are keeping a closer than usual eye on him due to Annie and Eva and what happened previously. But it was his behaviour before which got him here as making himself known drew him to our attention so I doubt he would be interested in doing a repeat performance".

Elliot nods, "Ok then" he says pacified by that response.

A moment later there is activity in the room and we see a door opening and a soldier steps inside followed by Frank. I watch Elliot's reaction as he sees his birth father for the first time. There is no reaction whatsoever from Elliot as he watches Frank get seated, he is showing no visible emotion at all as he watches Frank speak to the soldier in the room, but then again Frank is a complete stranger to him so it is hardly surprising.

"Ok then, ready when you are Elliot" Arnie says gently. He turns towards Eva and myself, "If at any point you two want to join Elliot you open the door to the left of this one and then take the first door on the left".

We both nod in understanding and thank Arnie as he leaves the room. A moment later he is inside the small room with Frank and we hear Frank speak.

"Where are my daughters? I want to see them; I want to see them now, are they here?" he demands and Eva lets out a loud snort at that.

"Very demanding isn't he" I mutter.

I noticed Elliot stiffen at Frank's words and I step closer to him and slip my hand around his arm and give it a gentle squeeze. I notice that Eva has flanked Elliot's other side, whilst he seems to be in no rush to go and confront Frank.

"El" Christian says suddenly and we all turn towards Christian who is watching with a concerned expression on his face.

"If you don't want to do this, it's fine" Christian adds after a moment.

Elliot shakes his head, "No, I do. I'm not sure what I was expecting but all I can think is I'm a little bit disappointed, I can certainly see myself in his features and mannerisms which is a bit disconcerting…" he pauses and seems to come to some decision as he straightens and nods his head, "Ok I'm ready" he says confidently.

With that he pulls away from myself and Eva. He pauses briefly and hugs us both before leaving the room without another word. As he passes Christian, he reaches and squeezes Elliot's arm and Gideon pats his shoulder as he passes him. Elliot smiles at both of them but doesn't say a word.

We all look at each other before turning our attention to the room in front of us. I perceive Christian moving closer and I feel the warmth from him behind me, as he wraps his arm around my shoulder but I reach out for Eva's hand and as she grasps it, I notice that Gideon has stepped up to Eva's other side. A moment later the door to the room in front of us through the mirror opens.

"Here we go" Eva mutters as we see Elliot step into the room. Arnie has now gone and Frank was just sitting alone but as soon as the door opens, he turns and smiles expectantly. That smile fades and his face is filled with confusion as Elliot steps inside and closes the door behind him.

"Who the fuck are you?" Frank snaps immediately.

Elliot just stares at him without a word which seems to unnerve Frank a little.

"I said who are you?" he repeats in a slightly more civil manner.

"Hi dad" Elliot says as he gives Frank a saccharine sweet smile and Eva lets out a little laugh at the look of shock on Franks face.

"What?" he stammers.

Elliot nods, "Yeah, don't you know who I am?" he says and Frank shakes his head. Elliot takes a step closer to Frank, looking at him as if he is appraising him.

"My birth mother was your dead brother's girlfriend… you remember Sadie surely, who you manipulated into having a fuck when she was grieving the death of your brother. Who a few weeks later discovered she was pregnant with me and who you denied all responsibility for going as far as leaving town to avoid having to step up. That was the first time you abandoned a pregnant woman before you did the same thing to Monica Trammel and Carla Wilkes – and probably god knows how many others who we don't know about over the years".

We watch as all colour drains from Frank's face. "Did Ana and Eva find you?" he asks carefully.

Elliot nods, "We found each other" he says evasively.

"What do you want from me?" Frank asks defensively.

Elliot snorts and shakes his head, "Absolutely nothing, you have nothing whatsoever that I want or need. The only thing I did want was to see you, just the once. I wanted to lay my eyes on the man who provided the DNA - as that is all you did and I wanted to discover for myself if he was the worthless creature I had been led to believe that he was". Elliot pauses and starts to pace around Frank. Franks head moves to follow Elliot as he circles him and when he stops, he gestures to himself, "You see I'm a dad, I have a young daughter and she is my world. I would never dream of leaving her… abandoning her, and I have difficulty understanding what kind of man could do that, not only once but three times… and maybe more for all we know. I have a question for you Frank as it seems quite simple to me, I mean man to man… well, man to pathetic spineless waste of space. I've fucked my fair share of women over the years… more than my fair share, which is not something I am now proud of but I can't change my past. However, despite that rather colourful past I only have one daughter who was planned because I took responsibility for my actions to prevent anything happening. I mean it's not rocket science; if you never wanted to be a dad, why didn't you take any precautions to prevent nature taking its course? You know a box of condoms aren't expensive, and that would've been the responsible thing to do unless of course you are some kind of retard who cannot grasp that concept… or are you just so selfish and wrapped up in your own pleasure that you couldn't bring yourself to do what was right… don't you like sex with condoms Frank, doesn't it feel as good?"

I see Frank's eyes widen and anger fills them. "He doesn't like being told what a complete tool he is, does he?" Eva mutters and I shake my head.

"I wanted to see my daughters, are they here?" he asks after a moment totally ignoring Elliot's remarks.

Elliot nods, "Oh yes they are here as they came to support me but it's like this Frank, they have no interest in seeing you. They know you only want to see them today to try and manipulate them into getting you out of here. They know that you believe that because they are married to rich powerful men you think they can pull a few strings and get you off the hook, and to be fair to you that assumption is right as they probably could if they were of a mind to as the kind of wealth Christian and Gideon have wields a lot of power and influence. But here's the thing Frank, they don't want to do that as they believe you deserve every moment of your sentence for what you did. They are not stupid Frank; they know you have no interest in them. They know you only want to use them as you have used every other woman who has had the misfortune to cross your path. You only want to see them to help you save your own neck and you only see them as a tool to manipulate to get what you want. You believe they can do something for you but the problem with that is they also know it and they are not playing your games because as far as they are concerned you can rot in here".

"So, what are you doing here? Are you just their messenger boy – as it seems to me like they are using and manipulating you" Frank says with a shrug.

Elliot laughs, "You are more deluded than I thought if you believe that. My sisters are here with me supporting me. I asked for this visit and whilst they didn't want to see you, they agreed to come with me to support me and they are both watching you right at this moment, and my brother also came along with me as moral support".

Frank looks around the room and fixes his eyes on the mirror, "That's a two-way mirror isn't it?" he says.

"It is" Elliot confirms.

Something seems to occur to Frank as he looks at Elliot, "So your sisters are here? Eva has flown in from New York, so is her husband also here… is Gideon Cross out there with them?" he asks hopefully and Elliot nods.

At that Eva giggles and looks up at Christian.

"He's dismissed you as irrelevant Christian" she says with obvious sarcasm and Christian shrugs.

"I can live with that" he says simply.

"And if Ana is also here, I bet her husband is also here… what's his name? Erm Christian? Christian Grey?" Frank says and Elliot nods again but doesn't say anything.

Gideon also clearly finds this amusing as he pats Christian's shoulder apologetically, "Never mind, I can't help being more successful and wealthier than you" he states in a deadpan manner which make all of us laugh loudly.

Our attention returns back to Elliot who is now speaking again. "So, you have just proved that you are not really interested in Ana and Eva and you seem to be only interested in my brother in law, I wonder why that would be? Also, what about my brother? What is he, chopped liver?" Elliot asks and Frank looks at him in confusion.

"Why would your brother interest me?" he says simply and at that Elliot laughs and he turns towards the mirror.

"Christian! Sorry bro he's not interested in you" he calls with a grin which makes us all laugh once more.

"Christian?" Frank asks as his eyes widen, and I can see his mind working, "But that is Anastasia's husband, isn't it?" he asks after a moment.

Elliot turns towards him, his face a picture of innocence. "Oh sorry didn't I mention it, my name is Elliot, Elliot Grey. I was adopted by the Grey family and my younger brother is Christian Grey, and yes you are quite correct that he is the same Christian Grey who married my little sister, your daughter Ana... yeah that Christian Grey. Admittedly that was a bit of a mind fuck to begin with but we got over it".

The look on Frank's face is a picture and all of us start laughing again at his complete shock.

"So, in answer to your question yes, their husbands are out there. Eva's husband Gideon and Ana's husband Christian - who also coincidently happens to be my brother, but I wouldn't get your hopes up at all as they both think you are a bit of an asshole".

Frank is completely speechless and just sitting there opening and shutting his mouth so Elliot continues to speak. "Anyway, I've seen enough I've satisfied my curiosity and..." he pauses and looks at his watch, "It's ten minutes I'm never getting back. I can't say it's been a pleasure as you are without doubt the worst example of humanity, I have ever laid eyes on. My sisters warned me that there was no redeeming features and that I wasn't missing anything by not meeting you, and as I've already said my brother and brother in law both said you are a complete asshole and I can see they are all correct". He turns towards the mirror once more, "You were right, he's a complete tool of the highest order" he says which makes us all laugh again.

He pauses and then speaks again towards the mirror, "I'm done here, I did what I wanted to do. I'm just sorry I didn't listen to you all as it really was a complete let down, Frank was a complete let down but then again he has spent his life being one of those". He pauses and gives Frank a cursory glance as he says that before turning his attention back to the mirror. "Meet me outside and let's go home".

With that and without another word, or acknowledgement to Frank who is watching him and his every move Elliot leaves the room and closes the door. Frank stands and stares at the door almost as if he is going to call out but he doesn't and then he briefly looks towards the mirror before sinking back down into the chair, shaking his head sadly and dropping it into his hands.

"Do you think that is a genuine reaction or is he just trying to manipulate us and make us feel sorry for him?" I ask as I watch him.

Christian squeezes my shoulder, "My guess is he is still trying to manipulate you, the way he looked towards the mirror before he did it. He knew you were in here watching and so he was putting on a show to try and make you feel sorry for him".

I turn towards Christian and see Arnie, who I realise for the first time is in the room with us. He is shaking his head as he watches Frank through the mirror and I get the impression that he also believes that Frank is just putting on a show.

As I see Arnie an idea pops into my head, "Uncle Arnie can you do me a favour?" I ask.

He steps forward and nods, "Of course I can" he says.

"Just go in there and tell him we have gone" I say and I look up towards Christian, "I want to know for sure" I say, as while I am fairly certain that Christian is right, I want to be sure before I go.

Arnie nods and leaves the room and a moment later he is opening the door and approaching Frank.

"Ok, time to go Frank" Arnie says sharply.

"But…" Frank says and looks towards the mirror once more.

Arnie lets out a small laugh and shakes his head, "I don't know what you are looking over there for Frank, Ana and Eva have gone. As soon as Elliot said he was done they left the room and went out to meet him. They have gone, left the building I said goodbye to them before I came in here" Arnie lies with more than a little smugness.

With that Franks demeanour changes completely, totally gone is the broken upset and remorseful man and I see anger flash in his eyes as if he cannot believe that we would dare to do that. It is with that swift change that I have my answer, and Christian was completely correct - it was all for show.

"You were right" I say sadly and Christian responds by giving me a gentle squeeze.

We leave the room and meet up with Elliot and when we get outside, I turn and wrapping my arms around his waist I hug him. "Are you ok El?" I ask and he smiles and nods at me.

I step away and Eva gives him a hug, "So did you get your closure?" she asks and Elliot pauses a moment and then nods again.

"Yes, I believe I did. I was under no illusions about the man after everything I heard from you two, but he confirmed for me what a complete narcissistic asshole he really is. There was nothing there other than self-centred consideration for himself. I said what I wanted to say. I could've said more and I could've completely gone to town on him but as I watched him I realised he wasn't worth it, he just wasn't worth my time or effort. I've seen him, face to face, I've done what I set out to do and I have no desire to see him again. I now know exactly where I came from and that's good enough for me. He provided the DNA but Carrick Grey is my dad and always has been".

"Are we ready to go then?" Gideon asks and Elliot nods.

As we are all deciding as to what is going to happen next Arnie appears once more.

"I wanted to catch you before you went, did you achieve everything you wanted?" he asks looking towards Elliot.

"I did, thank you Arnie" Elliot replies as he holds out his hand. Arnie smiles and accepts the handshake before turning towards me.

"Well I'll say goodbye to you all then, come here Annie and give me a hug" he says and I laugh as I indulge him. Arnie then turns towards Eva and hugs her before he says his goodbyes to Christian and Gideon. As he shakes Christian's hand, he also pulls him into a hug which Christian accepts and returns as he slaps Arnie on the back. I feel myself swell with pride seeing this small almost insignificant gesture as for Christian this is a huge thing for him to do.

oooOOOooo

As we board the plane it has been decided that we are all heading home to Seattle. Eva had said her goodbyes to Victor this morning and Elliot is anxious to get back to Ava.

"Are you two going straight back to New York?" Elliot asks as we settle ourselves down inside.

"Erm…" Eva begins and looks questioningly at Gideon who shrugs.

"If you want to go to Seattle, I'm fine with that. I cleared my schedule and barring any emergency I don't need to return to New York until the day after tomorrow so if you want to spend some more time with Ana, Christian and Elliot I'm good with that" he says simply.

Eva squeals and hugs him tightly, "I love you so much" she whispers and I see Gideon swell with pride at those simple words.

During the short flight we try and engage Elliot in conversation but it is clear he doesn't want to talk as all he gives us is one-word answers. I look at Eva a couple of times and I can tell she wants to say something.

"El, can I ask you something?" she asks after a moment.

Elliot looks up and nods, "What?" he asks simply.

"Are you really ok, because you seem to have shut down?" Eva says. I glance at Gideon and Christian who are both watching but not saying a word and I had noticed they had been making a point of watching Elliot closely throughout the flight.

"I'm fine" Elliot replies.

"And I call bullshit" Eva says bluntly. "You are not fucking fine. If I were to take a wild stab in the dark I'd say you are thinking about your birth mother right now and if my hunch is right, whilst you are honouring her wishes not to meet you, you would like that to happen because then you would get the same level of closure as you did with Frank".

The look on Elliot's face gives him away and we can all see that Eva has hit the nail on the head. She nods thoughtfully. "I'm right aren't I?" she says in a slightly softer tone.

At that Elliot nods, "Yes, you are. However, there is nothing I can do about it. Her fear of the media discovering who she is, is just too great and while Frank won't be able to do anything from where he is and Christian and Gideon could organise something so that the media don't get involved, I have to accept her wishes".

Eva nods, "Ok" she says simply. I watch her and I realise that she is clearly plotting something in her mind. I don't say anything but I make a mental note to speak to her once we are alone.

Before anyone can say anything else, an announcement fills the cabin informing us that we are about to land in Seattle and we should fasten our seatbelts.