A/N: Hello! Hope everyone is having a good time in the midst of the holidays! Thanks to 4gcrazyme, Pound68 (Robert is going to get the brunt of the madness in a certain sense, but he'll get some rewards too haha. And I swear, Faison has the emotional IQ of a bag of rocks. It's extremely apparent when I'm trying to write this because in most of their scenes, Anna looks disgusted, about to pass out, or is drinking unhealthy amounts of liquor to stand his presence. Ah well…), and Bostie for their reviews! I sent messages to those who were logged in because I tend to go on a bit haha. But I really appreciate you guys!

Chapter 24:

Robin and Tiffany met Felicia at Kelly's, and Robin immediately garnered change to call Wyndamere, looking for her mother. When she returned, she told them that Anna was coming to meet them.

"She seemed kinda relieved."

"Why would that be?" Felicia said pleasantly, having not been privy to Robin's earlier thoughts. But Robin must have been tired of unburdening herself and shrugged.

"I guess she wanted to come back."

"Oh I don't know," Tiffany jumped in. "We haven't had a girls' day in so long! She's probably happy we didn't forget about her."

Robin wasn't above being excited to be considered one of the grown women, and her face brightened. "And if the baby is a girl, then she's here too!"

Felicia grinned. "I didn't tell you yet, but we had our 16-week and everything is going well." Robin was delighted by the subject, and it served to distract her until Anna walked through the doors.

"Mom!" Robin leapt up to hug her, and Anna was better at covering that Robert had been. At least in Tiffany's ample opinion… Anna managed a glowing smile and slipped into the last available seat.

"Hi Tiff, Felicia, how's the little one in there?"

More baby talk, fine. Tiffany tried to control just how much she was glancing over at Anna, but it was difficult. Robin and Felicia were chattering away. Robin was peppering her mother with questions about what she had been like as a baby, and Anna provided answers. That was all she did, but it was enough to amuse the rest.

Tiffany wasn't sure if Robin's infancy brought back some negative feeling, or if it had to do with her trip to Spoon Island, or the tabloid mess, but Anna's demeanor darkened as they ate their meal. Speculative, she wanted to test the waters, but she waited until Robin and Felicia were talking aside before making the comment.

"Well, I'm going to have to run back home when we're done here. Hopefully, Robert's done with whatever he had to discuss with Sean."

"Robert's with Sean?" Anna said immediately. She was certainly attempting to school her expression, and if Tiffany hadn't known what she did, she would have never known the difference, or heard the trace of anxiety that was in her tone. "How did he seem?"

"Upset," Tiffany replied truthfully. "I took Robin with me so they could have some time alone."

Anna nodded, and whatever she was thinking about, she didn't share it. Tiffany shifted slightly closer, her chair creaking as it moved. Her hand went gently to Anna's wrist, tapping it lightly to capture her attention. "I know that things …have been difficult. I don't want to push you to tell me anything. But any time you want to say anything, Anna …it's between us."

"Thanks, Tiffany." Anna gave her a small smile, but there were shadows around her eyes. It was such a brief moment, but it struck Tiffany. The darkest things about this woman whom she called her friend, were things that only Robert and Sean could claim to know. Sean (in telling her about himself) had told her about parts of Anna that were sealed away in some Bureau record, with the hope that it would never be dug up again. Her marriage to Robert was among those things …or so they had thought.

Tiffany knew what it was like to bury the past away in some box, but not for the reasons Anna had. Tiffany looked at her, in this Port Charles diner, and saw the glimpses of a former vibrant, secretive, illustrious secret agent—the woman that her friend Robert had fallen in love with, and Tiffany had never felt more disconnected from her.

And she had never wanted to help her more.

"What are you two talking about over there?" Felicia asked, and they found both her and Robin had stopped their conversation to look at them.

"Did you hear me, Mom?"

"No, darling, what?" Anna responded.

"Felicia said I could spend the night and help her set up the baby's nursery! Can I, please?"

Tiffany mused that they probably didn't have to set that up for another few months, at least. But maybe Felicia had noticed more than she let on and was trying to do something for both Robin and Anna… Robin seemed to need a break just as much as her parents did.

Especially with all the bad press.

Anna's expression was one that perfectly visualized "looking a gift horse in the mouth". But then she blinked and relaxed. She was among friends. "Of course you can. We'll go by and grab your things and I'll drop you off."

"Oh, I can follow you and take her myself!" Felicia insisted. "It's been nice to get out without Frisco hovering…"

Anna gave Tiffany an extra squeeze when they embraced, and Tiffany squeezed back. "Come talk when you're ready."

She said "thank you" again, but Tiffany was aware that she wouldn't be taken up on the offer. Anna wasn't much for venting about the really serious stuff, not to her girlfriends. She was an action girl. She got her gun and made a plan. Tiffany just hoped that it didn't get her into trouble this time.

And Robert… what was that man thinking?

Oh, Tiffany was certain that they had slept together. It would explain so much about their tension lately, and Robin's confusion, and Sean's observations. It explained where Amy Vining got her gossip. It explained why Katherine broke up with Robert.

And even the timing made some sort of sense: the situation was not only risky, but their romantic past had been resurrected. Passions were bound to spill over at some point…

Would Robert tell Sean?

Tiffany wasn't sure. Robert had just forgiven Sean for finding out about Sean's part in that whole mess. Of course, Robert surely didn't count on Robin leaving the trail of breadcrumbs that she had for her.

Should Tiffany tell Sean?

She planned on having an answer by the time she pulled into their lot.

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Felicia was doing her a huge favor.

She flashed gorgeous dimples at Anna as she rounded her arm on Robin's shoulders and guided her out of the house. "Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"

Anna scoffed. "Go, get out! I'll see you tomorrow, but not too early! Love you both." Robin was bounding toward the car, but Anna captured Felicia's sleeve. "Thank you, Felicia," she said in a lowered voice.

Felicia sighed. "I know you need a rest from everything going on. If you need any help or distractions for Robin, just call. I'm just baking right now." She jokingly rubbed her midsection and Anna hugged her again.

"If she's too much of a bother, just call first!"

Anna closed the door on her friend's laugh, feeling suddenly cold, rubbing her hands. She was alone. Except, she wasn't.

Faison was there.

He was in her mind now every time she found herself alone now, digging away at her fears and insecurities. How could a man so worshipful of her make her feel as if she was being dismantled, bit by excruciating bit?

"It's a question of what you must do."

"Do your worst, my darling. And I will watch."

"Shut up," she muttered, gripping her temples. She changed out of her clothes, the clothes she wore when he touched her and proposed. After putting on nightclothes and a robe, she paced toward the liquor cabinet and withdrew something, anything. She shouldn't, probably. But she had a night without Faison and the light of tomorrow was bound to bring more terrible things, and she would have to be so terribly controlled at every moment.

She poured, and drank. And then she poured again.

The warmth was returning, but there was still a draft, somewhere. She rubbed her arms. Maybe it was inside her, where Faison coiled up and reminded her that there was nowhere to run.

Anna hear the click of the back door and footsteps. She stood up, ready to pull open the drawer that held her gun when the intruder appeared. He was tall and familiar, and he should have, by all rights, been too angry with her to come here tonight.

"Robert…" She looked toward the kitchen warily. "You—"

"No one saw me." He exhaled, and the sound was as tired as she felt. "I might be out of the Bureau, but God help me if I ever forget my operational instincts."

"Your car." Anna wasn't keen on a repeat of this morning, depending upon what happened here. And their public feud would only increase the interest.

"Down the block, a neighborhood over." He waved a hat at her. "No one saw me."

"How did you know we'd be alone?"

"I was with Sean." His mouth tilted ruefully. "He's none too happy with either of us."

Anna rubbed her forehead, pushing her bangs up. "No, I can't imagine…"

Robert watched her unenergetic pacing, and the lack of alarm at his presence, she seemed sleep. "My dear …have you been drinking?"

"I…" she was about to deny, but then she looked into the tumbler of amber liquid and slumped a little. "Yeah…"

She glanced at him briefly and that agonizing impulse to be surrounded by his arms and protected came on her, like it had been with alarming regularity. After their scene at the wedding, she had hoped to ensure that he would want to be as far away from her as possible. It never seemed to work. And the fact that he endured it at all made her love him even more.

When he did step toward her, with all his quiet strength and ready embrace, she leaned away and took his hand, pulling at him to follow. They sat in companionable silence on that couch, where nothing made any sense, but everything somehow felt right, looking straight ahead. Waiting for something.

She relinquished her glass to him the moment his fingers nudged hers and he drank the rest.

"You shouldn't be here."

"Yes," he said wryly. "I got the message on that during your grand production at that bloody wedding."

"And yet…"

"And yet."

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Kate watched from the motel bed as Shep sighed and hung up with Tiffany. Feeling badly about Robert's treatment of him, Kate had come to offer some sort of an apology and see how he was doing. And then the first of two calls had come in: the first was from Monica Quartermaine, who had wanted him to track down her daughter, Dawn, who had fled her own wedding. Shep had suggested using Sean Donely and Anna Devane, since that was more their business… but for whatever reason, Monica had declined that suggestion. Something about them having their hands full…

Kate and Shep had just started a vigorous argument over whether Shep should help out ("the last thing you need is to be on Robert's radar even more!") when another call had disturbed their discussion. This time, it was from his boss. The words on his side of the conversation had not at all clued her in as to what Tiffany had been calling about, but she felt a clench around her heart all the same. She had made those connections through Robert and it hurt to know that things were happening there and she was removed from them.

She hoped everything was okay.

"What was that?" she asked carefully.

Shep crossed his arms and paused before he spoke. "That must have been some wedding. Tiffany was just warning me …about something that our producers were thinking about. I think she knew I'd agree with her and not want to go anywhere near that story." He started to meander around the room, twirling his hat and talking aloud, something Katherine had noticed he did when he was getting agitated.

"I mean, it's really just nuts sometimes, what people in this town are concerned about! We've got people dying in the streets and all they want an 'Ask Abby' column! And the Police Department is no help. I practically hand them evidence on a silver platter and what do they do with it? A heaping pile of nothing!"

"That must have been some phone call, about that wedding…" Kate traced his movements, trying to telegraph far less concern than she felt. "Care to share?"

He did a double-take at her and stopped treading his path. "You're not gonna like it…" he warned, flipping his hat back onto his head.

"I'd rather know anyway." She was sure of this, but braced herself for some horrific, emotional anvil to drop on her head.

"It appears that instead of Robert using the leads I gave him, he decided to get pushy with his ex-wife at the Quartermaine wedding. So she hauls off and slaps him and the whole scene was a tacky, public embarrassment, and now my producers think this is something that needs to be reported on. As if we aren't a real news station and need to get by on this crap for viewers!"

Kate was disbelieving, and her face must have shown it, because Shep cleared his throat. "Don't worry about it. Mrs. Donely and I are on the same page, and the story isn't going to be broadcast at our network."

She shook her head slowly. "I just …I'm having a hard time buying it."

"Why?"

"Because …I've known Robert, I've been close to them both for a couple of years. Well enough to think about marrying the man." Shep scoffed a little at that and she ignored him. "Robert and Anna barely disagree about anything. I can't even imagine her hitting him in front of a crowd. In fact, I'd say that's ridiculous."

"C'mon, Kate, they're exes. Obviously not everything was perfect in paradise, or they would have stayed together." Shep pointed out, ever the reporter. He sat on the edge of the bed with her, and she tossed back her long hair to face him.

"No, I'm serious. They've always gotten along incredibly well. I've noticed it from the first time I saw them together," she recalled. "And if they do fight, it's over the fact that he's too controlling sometimes. Too protective."

Kate remembered vividly the time Anna threatened Olivia Jerome in the elevator, causing her to fear for her life to get a confession. Robert had been furious, but had had his arms around her moments later, their eyes closed in bliss as they rocked back and forth.

The worst she had ever seen them was during the blackout, but when they came back from Spoon Island, they were as thick as thieves. Katherine sometimes wondered how she had lasted with Robert as long as she had. Every single time she looked back, it was so apparent to her that his behavior with Anna was never going to be something that she could have lived with.

Shep shrugged. "Well, it sounds like that was what this fight was about, if I heard it correctly. She was yelling something about him staying out of her life—"

"Oh no…" She stood, beginning to drift into her own little world of old feelings. That sounded awful, almost too dramatic and hurtful to have ever happened between two people who were so close. Something was wrong about this.

"—and then she left with P.K. Sinclair."

Kate whipped around to stare at him. "He was there?"

"That's right."

Kate hit on something, and the next thing that came out of her mouth was instinctive, but incredibly certain. "They're faking it."

"Huh?"

"I knew something was off about this! They're faking it!" Strangely, though this relationship's intensity had signaled the end of her own, Kate felt clear triumph at her revelation. "Robert and Anna can't stand the man on the island!"

"P.K. Sinclair." Shep clarified. Kate hesitated, pretty sure that that wasn't the man's real name, but even if she did know, she wouldn't have made such a remark to the investigative reporter.

"Yeah …she—Anna—doesn't actually want to be around him. I could tell when I saw her out with him. Mr. Sinclair was besotted, but Anna seemed like she could hardly tolerate him. I figured there was a reason she was doing it, some spy-related thing."

"So the guy's dirty," Shep said. "Which means that when Robert went to arrest him at your lovely establishment, it wasn't for jealousy. And what is it that he's done?"

"I don't know…" Kate bit her lip. She hadn't expected to tell Shep as much as she had; her excitement had gotten the better of her. "But if they had a fight like that in front of him, they were probably staging it for his sake."

"You're so sure of this."

"Yes." She was. Really, it was the only thing that made sense to her. After Cassandra Clark's article (or series of articles), Sinclair must have felt threatened. This could have been a way to ensure that he wouldn't suspect Anna of being interested in another man. It made a lot more sense than Anna losing her temper the way that Tiffany claimed.

Shep nodded. "I trust ya on this one. Which means that I'm making the right call by not giving them any attention. I'm not about to get taken in on that snow-job! But now I'm curious as to what is actually going on with all of that…"

Kate was hardly listening. Her mind was running over everything she knew about what Robert and Anna were doing, trying to get a clearer picture of what may be going on. And if they had gone this far to push this narrative, then Robin would be affected by her parents' public argument. What could be this extreme to warrant them doing such a thing? She had no doubt that they both loved Robin more than anything. It was so strange.

"Hey."

Kate glanced up to find Shep watching her. "Sorry."

He opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it again. She felt a bristle of irritation with him. "What?"

"Well, now that you believe that this whole thing is staged …I guess you'll rethink your breakup with the Commissioner, huh?"

Kate genuinely laughed out loud, and Shep frowned. "Didn't think I said anything funny…"

"No, it's just that there's no chance of that!" She groaned, closing her eyes for the moment. "I probably should have just not said anything! Me and my big mouth."

She kept going back to the argument Robert and Anna had had in her dressing room. There was no doubt in her mind that there was jealousy on Robert's part. And the fact that the man, whatever his name was, had broken up Robert and Anna's marriage. But again, that wasn't something she was ready to share with Shep.

"No, no!" Shep got to his feet eagerly and came towards her. "I don't want you to regret that, because this goes no further. And—you can quote me on this …but you have a lovely mouth. Anything you say here is strictly off-the record."

The tall blonde eyed him skeptically. She was far from the wide-eyed romantic, and the last vestiges of any dreamy ponderings had gone when her and Robert were through. This man barely knew her, used information as currency, and had no illusions drifting through his head either. "Really, Shep? And why am I so special?"

He was only a little taller than her, but was taller than most men. When he stood close, she did have to look up a little. His smile was both tentative and handsome, and his hat was back in his hands.

"You're kidding, right? You are the most internationally-famous person in Port Charles and you're wondering how you're special? You're classy, talented, beautiful, you have your hands in every pie and you do it all so well. It's a no-brainer that you're special!"

Yet, she wasn't special enough in Robert's eyes to top Anna. She almost felt petty enough to say so and continue this confessional session, but Shep wasn't finished. "You're also funny. You're adventurous and spontaneous." Her heart beat a little faster when he took her hair and pushed it back out of her face gently. "Most of all …you're kind. Kinder than most people I know. I mean, you came here tonight to stop me from getting in trouble with the police, knowing that it would mean trouble for you too if you were caught in here."

She felt her face begin to heat up, trying to keep cool under his excessive praise. But he didn't stop, and she felt like maybe he was scrounging up the courage to say something he had wanted to say for a while.

"It's not going to stop you though, is it?" She rummaged for something to say, not sure if she was ready.

"No, but I appreciate the thought." His gaze was so heated and unblinking that it almost hurt to look at. "And I have to admit …I really hope that you don't take this as a reason to go back to Scorpio."

"You don't have to worry about that," she whispered. She whispered it because he was so close now.

"I don't?" he whispered back.

"It's over." She blinked slowly, feeling warm.

When he moved again, there was no doubt in her mind what he was about to do, and she welcomed it. "If it's really over..." she felt the rumble of his chest as he spoke "…then maybe you and I should begin."

His lips fell over hers.

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Robert was wiser than he had been just a few hours ago. He knew Sean thought he hadn't been listening, and he really hadn't. But he saw the impotence and frustration written all over his former superior's face, and it helped him to realize that he was becoming his own worst enemy.

If he kept fighting against what she was doing, then he wouldn't be able to work with her. And if he couldn't work with her, then she would continue to try to force his cooperation and probably wouldn't let him anywhere near her. He wouldn't have any peace in any arena of his life.

She had sat next to him, and it was close. It was that nearly-tangled together proximity that he only had with her. He wondered what was going on in that pretty, impossible head of hers.

"I'm going to betray you again, Robert."

The front of that statement was so matter-of-fact that she could have been telling him what time the news report was on. But she'd had too much to drink, not him. He read the fear on the back-end, and he went for a joke, perhaps because she expected it.

"Well love, when you betray someone, it's always better not to give notice."

"Like the first time?" Her hand shook now. He took it from her lap and warmed it with a gentle fury, willing it out of its cold, frenetic state. He refused to think about that now. He didn't want to go back to that place emotionally.

"There was a lot of betrayal to go around back then. And none of it was forewarned." That's why he couldn't tell Sean about them.

"I could never do that again," she said seriously, but her gaze was distant and in terrible memory. He knew she was thinking of the hospital after the explosion.

"And I …I couldn't either," he admitted quietly. "Walk away again. Couldn't…" It had taken all that he had the first time.

"That scares me most of all." The tremble of her hand was finer as she extricated it from his grasp to run her fingers down the side of his face. It was loving, but the push of her soft digits turned him away from her. He pushed back, looking down into her eyes.

Ah, but that was dangerous. They had spent so many years cutting off the current that had passed between them, shifting the wavelengths so that it could be properly ignored. Now that they had done what they did, it could easily become all Robert thought about. And being in her eyes, it was all that he did. They were closing in on each other.

"I'm so tired…" she whispered. Her breath smelled sweet and alcoholic and she drifted toward his shoulder and buried her head there, and it ached for her comfortable weight. "I don't wanna talk. I don't wanna think…"

He was itching to ask what had happened tonight, after she left with Faison. It was also the very last thing he wanted to know. His hand went to her streams of smoky hair and ran his hands idly through it while he figured out what to do next and she burrowed into him like a small animal. With her insistent "go it alone" tactics, he wondered what he even provided for her.

What they were doing was stupid in not communicating. He hadn't given her much reason to tell him what she was doing, and he wondered if he could honestly cooperate with her strategy. He wasn't sure that he could, but they at least needed to discuss it. "We've gotta talk, love," he finally said.

The Robin-like way she had cuddled into him was indicative that she truly didn't want to and was hoping to work on his affection, but he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight unless they hashed it out. He wasn't going to pry her off, but he patted her shoulder more adamantly and she drew back to look at him. Her mouth had that regretful quirk, the one that gave her enough mystery to shipwreck a man.

"Ask me," she said.

"Well, I can figure out your motives for most of what you've done so far. What I want to know is your next step."

"He's been very focused on you lately. No matter how I've tried to dissuade him." She was hedging something, he could tell. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm and talk about this.

"Yes, and the articles and the State Commissioner being on my back and probably the stabbings are to do with him." Robert answered. Anna drew back further, confused.

"The State Commissioner?"

"That's right. But I should have expected it. Disgraced with the Bureau …the only thing left was the Department."

"You aren't disgraced at the Bureau," she muttered. "You've been nothing but loyal."

"No," Robert shifted, settling further back against the couch. "My loyalty is with you. Do you think Ross doesn't know that? We're the worst-kept secret the WSB ever had."

"There have been worse, not everyone knows." Anna wasn't meeting his eyes anymore, and he could tell that she was hating this conversation. He thought of his run-in with some of the old field and recalled their discussion about the marriage policy.

"No," he said. "But the higher-ups do …and that's really all that's needed to cause problems. But forget that, you aren't answering my question."

"Robert, I really am exhausted." She sounded it, but he also knew that she was trying to get out of talking to him.

"Wow," he realized, "you must be planning something awful if you're working this hard not to tell me."

"I love you."

"Don't." He sat up aggressively and grabbed her face, automatically gentling his grip when she gasped. "Don't say that to me as some excuse," he hissed. She could have burned him alive and he would hardly ask "why", but he wasn't going to countenance a confession like that. Her face was so open with understanding that it was hard to stay angry. "Treat me like a partner, Anna."

"I will," she promised. Her hand went up to pull at his wrist, and her fingers intertwined with his, bringing them down. "But only if you treat me like yours."

"How?"

"Have my back!" she exclaimed, the one thumb he still had against her face brushing against her lips as she spoke. "That's all."

Well, now he couldn't look away. They slowed down, and when he took his next breath, so did she. "Is that all?" he murmured.

She almost nodded, and then something stopped her. He saw the spark of challenge and that blistering ferocity she had in the heat of a moment. "No, it isn't." His eyebrow lifted, but she was already blazing her demand, caution thrown off once again. "Kiss me. Kiss me like you did when I was your partner. That's what I want to remember."

He had been thinking of this all day: her, and how it felt to be within her. His lips covered hers, slowly this time. Not the embrace of yesterday that had brought down the house around them, but something sweeter and still desperate. She reciprocated, biting at his lower lip and her arms going around him and pulling him over her as he bent her back against the cushions.

And that's how they ended up on the couch, necking like a couple of teenagers. For a woman who was tired from the days' events, Anna was incredibly responsive at the moment, her hands pulling his shirt out from his trousers to slip them underneath, grasping at his back. Robert was white-knuckled on his self-control the moment he felt her touch his bare skin. He fumbled with the tie on her robe, and thought that Sean might have been right …he was losing all sense.

It was as if a haze had come over them—a delusion that they had all the time in the world. The urge to take it further was only stayed by the fact that she still deserved better than the couch …but he wasn't sure how he was going to get up at this point. Perhaps it was just some unspoken agreement, because they continued to touch, removing the outer layers of each others' clothing, relearning all the little things they had once, too briefly, known.

The rhythm they moved at got progressively faster. His hand found her hip, gripping it too hard and the sound she made nearly undid him completely. He silenced her in his favorite way, and she pulled his weight against her even more, until there was no part of them that wasn't touching.

This wasn't going to work; how were they going to get anything done? He wanted to talk, she didn't. He had no power to stop, and if she did, then her goals were not the same as his. He forced himself to say it, because it was the only way he would get this to end, the words tracing her mouth.

"How are you going to betray me?"

Her dark, endless eyes flew open and she tensed. Her hand fisted in his shirt, hanging on, but he lifted himself onto his arms to relieve the unbearable friction, and she begrudgingly slipped out from underneath him, grabbing her legs in a huddled pose.

"How?" he said again. His jacket was on the floor with her robe, his tie was loosened and askew. Her hair was mussed from his hands, but they were having this out, damnit!

She looked straight at him, all business. "Before I tell you, I have two stipulations. One: there will be no more talk of me not going forward with Faison. I don't want to fight about that anymore. And two: if I say that Faison is a threat to you, then I mean it, and I don't want to fight about that either."

"I agree." Again, he forced himself to say the words without question. But already, he realized that whatever she said she was going to do, it would be in the name of protecting him. And he wasn't going to like it. "Tell me."

A/N: Getting long, so I'm going to break it up here. Hard to fool around when the couple in question have a child! I keep having to send Robin away lol. But at least it serves to get the rest of the cast of characters more involved… Also, I hope you guys got notified about this chapter. The site made some changes, and not for the better. I'm thinking of migrating or at least cross-posting. If you have any thoughts on this, please let me know! And if you have any thoughts about the chapter as well, of course :)