A/N: Back again, sooner, but not as soon as I would have liked. I couldn't let go of Sean's POV yet, so you'll get some from him this time and from Anna! Thank you so much to saint2sinner, Bostie (thank you so much! Hoping to get the next chapter out even sooner, so fingers crossed!), tsarinajen, ReetSLP, HavenSM (thank you! I hope you enjoy the changes in this chapter, try and spot them lol), ShanRB, 4gcrazyme, and Geobug for the reviews! I love reading your thoughts and commiserations!
Chapter 14:
"Boy, if he can move like that, I guess he's well," Robin said with surprise after Sean's hasty retreat. She exchanged a grin with Olin and dropped her jacket onto the overstuffed chair before facing her parents, who stood tensely beside each other. Anna guessed she would pick up on the atmosphere in seconds.
"Hi, sweetheart," she greeted her daughter wearily.
"How do ya feel?" Robert said with too much enthusiasm, something that everyone in the room could detect as a lead-up to something. Anna couldn't suppress a grimace.
"Fine!" Robin shrugged, having no idea where the question was going.
"Well," Robert said cheerfully, "you're gonna feel even better when I tell you all about the vacation your Uncle Sean is about to take you on a tropical island."
The young girl raised her eyebrows, a small enough trace of suspicion on her face and Anna turned her intense scrutiny to Robert, though carefully didn't interrupt.
"Me?" Robin questioned.
"You and your mum," Robert smiled widely. His hands were folded behind his back and his gaze had zeroed on Anna. When her jaw dropped and she may have started to speak, he tilted his head and murmured, "humor me…"
Robin couldn't miss the interplay between her parents, nor the fact that her father wasn't really addressing her. She sniffed out the discontent like a miniature operative. "Okay, guys… what's wrong now?"
"Nothing," Robert said immediately.
But there was a pause as Anna gathered herself enough to make the decision to hear Robert out in front of their daughter…there was nothing else to do.
"Nothing," she quietly agreed, turning back to Robin in a momentary détente and pasting a fake smile on her own face before pivoting back and brushing deliberately against Robert to force him to give her way. He readily humored her and absorbed the motion, letting her pass. It may have been a useless gesture, but it made her feel a little better.
It was part of an occasional dance they did: he would plan something she didn't like and plow right ahead, tolerating her somewhat-childish expressions of displeasure with more patience for her than she could have rightly expected. Robert wasn't afraid of her; he wasn't intimidated by her… but there were many things he would let her do even if they were petty. There was a long, unspoken agreement of this and it had served them rather well. She stood back now and listened—the next step of their unwitting arrangement.
"Your mum's pretty excited, she wanted to tell you herself," Robert explained to Robin, who was clearly confused.
"Why don't you do it?" Anna supplied with saccharine.
"She's pretty excited about this!" Robert tried again, but Anna didn't even try to co-star in Robert's performance, leaving him to present all the excitement. She could tell he was getting irritated. "Aren't you, Mum?"
"If you say so," Anna said, managing to make herself sound enormously unconvincing. But then, it didn't really matter. Robert took Robin's arm to pull her down onto the couch with him.
"Good. Then it's all settled."
Robin already had a legitimate frown on her face, even as she sat next to her father. Anna knew it was too early to gloat, but she also felt some satisfaction that their girl was surely not going to make it easy on him.
"How come… I mean, why all the sudden?"
"You need a reason?"
"Yeah, she's my daughter," Anna said with a slight smirk.
Robert exhaled to steel himself and poked his thumbs at both of them. "Well, look at you guys… well, you need to relax!" His eyes were still focused on Anna though he should have been trying to convince Robin. "That's a good reason."
Robin shrugged, ignoring her parents' weird behavior as she sometimes did when they were playing this game. "I'm relaxed!"
"I'll give ya three reasons," Robert said impatiently, turning to the girl. "Uh… your good grades at school. As a reward! That's the first reason. Second reason," he glanced ruefully at his ex-wife. "Your mother needs a break."
Anna arched an eyebrow, but kept her lips pursed without comment.
"Third reason, Sean needs to work on his suntan."
"Well, he can get a great suntan just on his own terrace," Robin stated reasonably.
"Blimey, you're like your mother! I give ya paradise, you give me aggravation!" He looked between them, looking for quarter.
"I'll miss the carnival!" Robin protested.
"Oh," Anna breathed, actually beaming now. She didn't quite prevent her laugh. "The carnival! What's everyone gonna say when we're not here?" That coy gaze almost suggested flirtation, but Robert had to know better after all these years. Or at least, he should have. "After all, it is to benefit the Department…"
"The carnival will go off just fine without you," Robert gritted.
"If you say so," Anna repeated, still grinning.
Before her smug expression could remain in victory, Robert straightened and pinned their daughter with the Look, the one that Robin would well-know meant 'no arguments whatsoever'. "Sweetheart, go and start packing your things. I need to have a word with Mummy." Robert's hand appeared to be toying with Anna's sleeve, but his fingers were tight, ready to pull.
"Okay, okay…" Robin muttered, flouncing off the couch to escape. "Just don't start fighting…" she called as she disappeared to her room.
Anna moved exactly as Robert gave her sleeve a yank, as if it was for all the world her choice to fall to the couch beside him. If he was going to get pushy, she might as well aggravate him.
"Perfect, Robert," she muttered, "she doesn't suspect a thing, does she?" she pulled her knees to her chest and frowned at them. And Robert stared, letting his anger cool until she bristled under his gaze.
"What?" she demanded.
"It is a shame that petulance so becomes you, my dear…" Robert said in undertone, his jaw tight and belying the words.
"Don't you put on your so-called charm," Anna berated, as she snapped her dark eyes to him briefly, her cheeks only slightly coloring with the backhanded compliment. "This is your chance to talk… so talk."
"Like it or not, you and Sean are compromised here," Robert hissed brutally, but quietly enough that Robin couldn't possibly have heard even if she was listening with her ear pressed against her bedroom door. Anna tensed and turned her head away from him coolly, but Robert wouldn't let her retreat. Reflexively, he caught his arm around her shoulders and gathered her into his space so they were almost cuddled up, willing calm into her so he could get her to listen.
The problem was, that it seemed every time Robert touched her lately (since the kiss, Anna deliberately didn't think), there was an element of something very un-platonic about it. It could have been her imagination. In any case, it would have to be her imagination because nothing else could happen. Not now.
"You are compromised too," Anna said softly, near his cheek.
"Yeah," he agreed readily, his nose brushing her forehead as he nodded. "With the WSB, I could be, if they ever found out…" He shifted her more firmly, comfortingly. "I'm not compromised with Faison, however."
It was nothing but the truth, so Anna heard him out the rest of the way. The intimacy of their position was relaxing her, almost against her will. How could he know how safe she felt in his arms? Did he?
"He's been using you," Robert whispered, "to get at me. He wants you and he knows that I'll take the bait."
"Then don't," Anna said.
"I can't stop myself. He knows this, somehow." Robert swallowed, clearly holding back something else he was going to say that Anna imagined would change the conversation entirely—something too personal. She was relieved when he didn't. "Just…give this one to me. Let me operate with him while there's no threat to you, no threat to Robin or Sean. I can expose him this way. A man like that doesn't play dead for thirteen years without racking up even more enemies…and when he's exposed… hell, they might even do my work for me…"
There was a hard lump in Anna's throat that wouldn't go away and trapped her voice in a vice. At her silence, Robert's head tilted down and she caught a strong waft of his aftershave. "What is it, luv?"
Anna shook her head, unable to say. One of her hands came up to his lapel, clinging and holding at the edge of it so she only moved nearer. "I…"
I want you to be safe. Don't leave me again. Don't kill for me. Don't die for me. Don't love me, please don't love me. If you love me, you'll never be safe again. Not while this man lives…
He suddenly went rigid at her proximity and she realized that he had been staring at her lips. Without even thinking, Anna disentangled herself from his grip and moved to the other cushion, folding her arms over her chest protectively. Undeterred, the friction still warmed the room. Robert took a composing breath, she still heard the catch in it.
"Now that I've outlined the plan… do you understand why I need you to take this vacation?"
She paused a heavy moment before answering and meeting his eyes. "I don't understand why you keep telling me that I can handle Faison and then you change your mind."
"He's made his first big slip, by going public. We can use this, we can really use this to our advantage!" His eyes lowered vulnerably and then settled on hers again with resolve. "By my sending you and Robin away… and Sean… he can't use the three of you to threaten me." His hand opened wide, emphatically. "I can really push him around now."
Anna stared at him for several long moments and Robert never broke her gaze. He was going forward with this plan and he believed it could work. Her feelings were getting in the way and his were too… maybe they could do it this way…
She exhaled deeply, releasing the doubt and rose from the couch.
"Uh… where are you going?" Robert said, startled.
Anna half-turned slowly to face him and lifted her hands, giving him the win. "I've gotta pack…" Then she disappeared into her bedroom to do the deed.
Her mind whirling with thoughts, Anna changed, packed, and freshened up for the trip. For once, Robin accomplished her own packing without a thousand questions and interruptions and when Anna returned to the living room, Robert was on the phone arranging for his men to meet him at Delafield's tonight.
"Yes, uh Delafield's at 8:30. No later." Anna dropped some of her luggage by the window while Robert wrapped it up.
"Yeah… yeah… see you later." He dropped the phone and joined Anna where she was. "All set?"
"Yeah…" She fiddled with her pocketbook to dispel some of her nervous energy as Robert moved beside her.
"Try to remember to have a good time," he told her, his hands clasped.
Anna stepped slightly to put a little more distance between them and took a couple short breaths, evening herself out before she made her statement.
"If this doesn't work, I wanna do it my way afterwards."
Robert took his own deep breath, letting it drift in the air, as if just contemplating what it would mean for his plan to fail was exhausting. And then the edge of his mouth ticked upwards, before looking at her in half-amused resignation. "I'll probably let you," he admitted quietly.
She refused to celebrate his acquiescence, and steeled herself now, because for the next short while, this was Robert's plan and what would come of it was solidly on him. She couldn't control anything from thousands of miles away.
"You'd better not mess this up because my daughter is involved and you'd better make damn sure that he can't get to her."
Robert picked up the gauntlet, never betraying her gaze. "I'm gonna make real sure he can't get to her."
"How do you intend to do that?"
He lifted one shoulder. "Several means at my disposal."
Anna held his gaze for a second longer and then moved around him before casting out her next thought. "Well, I wonder what he's gonna do when I don't show up tonight."
"Ooohhh, I daresay he'll be upset," Robert hummed.
"Yeah," Anna scoffed. "Well, I hope for your sake he doesn't make an ugly scene…"
"It'd be difficult, my stock isn't too good over there as it is," Robert replied blandly. At the indirect mention of Katherine, Anna looked down briefly. She was actually a little worried about admitting it to him, but she felt she had to so he wouldn't have any unpleasant run-ins without the information, more than worrying about his anger.
"Yeah, I tried to talk to her while you were away…"
Robert smiled a little, probably at the useless gesture, and shook his head. "Did ya ever stop to think that words weren't going to do it this time?" He didn't sound angry, but he didn't sound happy either.
Anna bit her lip. "I just don't want you to… pay for what I did." Her eyes flicked up to his sincerely. "I want you to be happy."
They watched each other and his eyes said a number of things just then, none of them he could say out loud. It was entirely infuriating, Anna thought glumly.
"Let me worry about that," he finally responded.
She was saved from answering when Robin and Olin walked out of the girl's bedroom, each carrying bags.
"You have everything?" Anna asked as they set it all down with Anna's collection of belongings.
"I wanna call Mr. Sinclair and tell him we're leaving," Robin said. She was concentrating on arranging her luggage, so she didn't notice her parents immediately balking at the mention.
"Uhhh…"
"No, you can't do that!"
"But I have to tell him I can't work on our book," Robin explained.
"We'll leave him a note," Anna said quickly.
"Yeah, good idea," Robert put in. He bent towards Robin and smiled. "Now why don't you give your dad a goodbye hug, huh?"
Robin opened her arms happily and flung them around her father's neck. "Okay." She let Robert rock her for a few seconds before pulling back as a thought occurred to her. "Hey, maybe you could tell him!"
Anna stopped sorting the flight info with Olin to see Robert's reaction. Her ex pulled back and grinned just a little. "Yeah… yeah, isn't that a good idea? Let… Daddy deal with Mr. Sinclair." His arms still around Robin, he gave Anna a significant look.
"Alright, sweetheart," Anna called, breaking up father and daughter. "We have to get to the airport, are you sure you have everything?" Experience had taught her to always make sure Robin thought over it again so they weren't having to pick something up later, to the annoyance of everyone.
"Yes," Robin sighed jokingly, heaving a bag onto her shoulder. "I'm ready."
"Let's go, chum," Olin coaxed the girl towards the door, leaving Robert to pick up a majority of the load.
"I'd see you off to the airport, but you know how this works," Robert said, rubbing his hands.
"Yeah," Anna muttered, casting a glance to the side to see Robin and Olin out the window. "Take care of yourself, okay? I mean it." Bravely, she met his eyes to see the tender look in them.
"Nine lives, remember?" he said laughingly. But she couldn't… not where Faison was concerned.
"I mean it," she repeated with a frown.
Robert lifted a finger and traced the line of her brow softly, her breath hitched. "I know you do," he murmured.
And then he kissed her. He did it quickly and it surprised her, but the press of his lips was more insistent than just a friendly peck. Anna froze, but just when she thought he would withdraw, his mouth moved finally against hers, coaxing her to respond. Then he did draw back, but he stayed in the space between them for longer than he should have. It felt absurdly like a promise.
"Robert," Anna said, a slight warning in her tone. But he merely grasped a loose lock of her hair and tucked it behind her ear, smiling nostalgically.
"Come on." Then he bent to pick up the rest of their luggage and headed for the car. "Daddy's a pack mule."
She didn't move for a moment, watching him walk away. She didn't know at all what this was, or what he was doing, or what she was doing. But if he could make his way to the next step, so could she. Belatedly, she took another breath and let him take lead.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
"We remind you to place all carry-on luggage in the overhead compartment, and we wish you a very pleasant flight to the Caribbean."
"Robert's taking a huge risk doing this, you know, I hope he doesn't get hurt," Anna confessed to Sean as she buckled her seatbelt in the spot next to him. She leaned towards him as she did so, as to not be overheard by Robin and Olin across the aisle.
"I doubt very much that Faison would be that…foolish, alright?" Sean responded in a deep whisper. He had been watching her like a hawk since they met at the airport so he could gather what he was observing from her… and then maybe get to the root of it. This was the first time she had said anything that betrayed her anxiety, but her non-verbal cues were off the charts. She had been acting almost claustrophobic since they had gotten on the flight. Sean wondered if it was the loss of control that he himself was feeling too, or something worse.
"You don't know what he'll do if he's cornered."
"Robert can handle it," Sean insisted against Anna's pessimism.
"Yeah, that's what he keeps saying," Anna muttered, her head tipped back against the seat. "I wish you'd stayed there to help him."
"Oh, no no, this is something he has to do by himself. Besides," he added without feeling, "Faison can use me against him just as much as he could use you."
Sean had decided that Anna's overriding panic over Robert and Faison was best managed realistically. She didn't need him to condescend to her about it, nor did she need him to run worst-case scenarios through her overactive mind. This was a mission; Robert was an agent.
But neither of his two friends were acting like it. And if Sean was going to get to the bottom of it, he needed to handle it delicately… and eventually, ask the right questions.
Anna sighed and let her head loll to face him, the concern still breaking through the fog of her eyes. "How have things been between you? When you went to the cemetery?" Sean knew she was alluding to the tension between himself and Robert, from the secrets he shared what felt like forever ago.
"Better," Sean said truthfully. "Actually, he came over the night before and we, ah… we each said our piece and made peace. I think…"
Anna blew out some air in surprise. "Wow. Really?"
She was more shocked than she was letting on or she was too distracted to ask about it, he knew. Robert was not someone with an impressive rebound-rate when it came to betrayal. But Sean knew why forgiveness had come in a timely manner, let alone at all. Tiffany had forced them to speak, but if the case hadn't put Anna in such a dangerous position as it was, Robert wouldn't have even come to the door. And still then, Sean had invoked her name in the conversation—spoken plainly of the truth they both knew. Anna, her life and her well-being, was on the line.
In a way, Sean could feel guilty for knowing he had used her once more, without her knowledge.
"Don't be so impressed," Sean grunted. "Robert has too much to lose to be at odds with me. But I can't say I'm not relieved that he came around."
"Yeah…" Anna's eyes were fixed downward. "He shouldn't have to pay for my mistakes."
"Your mistakes? Our mistakes," Sean said firmly.
"It wasn't your mistakes he knew about then," Anna resisted with an abiding regret.
"I put him there, Anna."
He and Faison had moved Robert and Anna like chess pieces, and the whole board had exploded.
"Did you?" Her eyes shined. "If this doesn't work… I don't care what he says, I'm doing this my way."
And that was exactly what Sean feared—what he had warned Robert about. Sean was no green agent, Anna remained their most powerful weapon against Faison… but the amount of destruction that could be wrought was an unknown quantity and to whom the damage would be done. Sean was not so daring anymore. And Robert wouldn't be quite so amenable. His eyes fell from her gaze and Anna dropped the discussion entirely.
"Everything alright?" she asked across the aisle.
"Yeah," Robin piped up. "It's fine."
Olin, on the other hand, was patting her chest apprehensively. "Ask me when I land, huh?"
"You're not gonna get sick, are you?" Robin said worriedly.
"I'm already sick." The housekeeper patted Robin's hand. "Honey, just wake me up when we get there, will you?"
"Here, sweetheart," Anna said. "Switch with me for a minute and I'll see if I can get the stewardess."
Anna was able to procure a sleeping pill from someone behind them and a cup of water from the attendants, which Olin gratefully took.
"Do you have another one of those brown paper bags?" Anna asked uncertainly as Olin patted her chest and thanked the woman.
"Olin's chicken," Robin giggled from Sean's side.
"No, she isn't, honey," Sean chuckled back. "Some people just don't like to fly, that's all."
"I love flying."
"Well, so will Olin as soon as she lets herself relax a bit…"
Robin nodded, looking over. "Yeah, Mom'll help."
"Mom's do that, don't they?"
"Yeah…" Robin shifted in her seat to face him. "Yeah, you really relaxed Mom. She was pretty tensed up when we left."
It was a mystery as to whether his little godchild was alarmingly shrewd for her age or if Anna was just alarmingly obvious about her distress. He never discounted Anna or Robert's genetics to have raised a fool, but he desperately hoped that innocent observations were the extent of Robin's suspicions.
"Ah, honey, we were… rather rushed."
"Yeah," Robin smiled affectionately. "Daddy and his big ideas…"
"It was a good one, though, wasn't it?"
"Yeah… I'm sorry he couldn't come with us. But… I'm glad you're with us," she said sweetly.
"Hey," he squeezed her hand, his heart clenching too, "so am I."
"I don't mean just on the trip."
"Well, what do you mean then?"
"Well, that you're okay, that you're out of the hospital!"
"Honey, let's not talk about that right now, okay?" His last sojourn in the hospital brought back nothing but unhappy memories of silver pieces, dead ends, and almost-lost friends…
"Can I say thank you for all that you've done for me?" she persisted earnestly.
"You already did say 'thank you'."
Robin grinned. Her smile had always been more Robert's than Anna's. "You know what? You're bad." Sean's heart skipped unpleasantly. "You're really bad!"
Robin saw the look on his face and rushed to correct, "no, no, not bad-bad, good-bad! Cool-bad."
"Thanks… I think." He played it off as best as he could, but the guilt lanced through him in that moment, burning their way through his insides. And he knew if he felt this way… it was likely only a fraction of the terror her mother felt at all of their secrets coming to the fore.
Anna returned. "Okay, Olin's asleep now."
"Good," Robin said eagerly, "maybe I can get some work done now."
"Well, what are you gonna do?" Anna asked.
Robin held up a pad of paper. "Gotta do some work, make some notes for Mr. Sinclair, for the book!"
Anna straightened and Robin stood up out of Anna's seat, this time not picking up on her mother's behavior. The girl turned to Sean. "Can I borrow a pen, please?"
"Yeah, sweetheart," he reached into his breast pocket. "Sure, here."
"Thank you!"
Anna sank back into her seat, still staring after Robin.
"Hey." She looked at him. "Don't worry, okay?"
"I just don't want him near her," she said, looking ill.
"I know how you feel… but this whole thing's gonna be over very soon."
Something occurred to her and she looked at her wrist briefly before looking at his. "What time have you got?"
"Mmmm, 9pm."
"Yeah, me too," Anna said softly. "Showtime."
Just like that, the air around them shifted, but they were the only two aware of it. Because they both knew that many miles away, Faison and Robert were in the same place on a cataclysmic course.
Sean's mouth set grimly.
"More like Showdown."
A/N: Showtime/showdown in the next chapter! See if you could spot the changes here lol.
