Chapter 46

Finn couldn't believe it, how was that even possible? How could that have been Alex? How could he not have known that wasn't Anna? He was sure she wasn't lying to him. She had honestly seemed confused when he mentioned the Adirondack's. Who had he fallen love with then? Finn felt like everything was spinning out of control. Why would Alex have wanted to be alone with him? When they had made love he knew he loved her, that woman had let herself be emotionally vulnerable with him. That woman was the one he had spent hours making tender love to. Now it turns out, that wasn't even Anna. What the hell is he expected to do with that knowledge? How was he ever going to accept that he had been in a relationship with a woman when it might actually have been her twin sister that he fell in love with? Was it Anna or Alex that he loved? Was it parts of both of them? If it's both of them, does that mean that woman doesn't even exist?

Finn wasn't surprised when he ended up at Alexis' house. As soon as the door opened he walked inside, "I need to talk. I have no idea where to start but I need to talk about this." Finn walked over to Alexis' couch and dropped down onto it.

Alexis could tell he looked distraught, "What's going on?"

"Um, well apparently when I slept with you it wasn't the first time I cheated on Anna."

"What?" Alexis asked and sat down beside him.

"Apparently I can't tell the difference between Anna and Alex. Now I'm not sure if I ever truly loved Anna. Maybe it was Alex I fell in love with. Maybe I love a mixture of the two of them."

"Um, Finn I'm going to need you to start from the beginning here."

"Fine, maybe talking through it all will help." Finn went on to tell her what had just happened at Anna's and about the weekend he apparently spent with Alex. That was the weekend he knew he started to love her. They had made love so tenderly. After Robert realized Anna was missing and she was home again their lovemaking hadn't been like it had been on their weekend together. Until now, he had always assumed it was because right after that she had been taken, now he knows it was because it wasn't the same woman.

Alexis listened to him talk, when he was done she sat there looking at him in disbelief. This was crazy, who would want to mess with him and Anna so much? He had already told her about someone using mind control on him now this. "You're sure about this?" she asked just needed to be sure.

"Yeah, it was pretty clear Anna had no idea about our weekend together in the Adirondack's."

"Oh Finn, I am so sorry all this has happened to you," Alexis said as she put her hand on his leg.

"At first, I thought Anna's lifestyle was exciting. It was so much different than what I was used to or things I had ever experienced." He turned to look at Alexis, "I didn't belong in that world. Do you think Scorpio would have slept with the wrong woman? He made it clear he knows his Annie," Finn said suddenly sounding very bitter.

"Finn, you can't think like that. I don't care who was in that situation they wouldn't have known they were being played."

"You keep telling yourself that. Scorpio wouldn't have been fooled by Alex. I bet that was when they programmed me. Whoever Alex is working with must have been there that weekend. Scorpio would have known that wasn't his Anna. He never would have been programmed like I was."

"You're a doctor you can't compare yourself to a man that's been a spy for over 40 years."

Finn stood up, "That's my point. I didn't belong in their world." He turned and started pacing, "I went to talk to Anna, to try to understand what was done to me and I found out even more than I could have imagined. What else was I expected to do? Was I positioned to be in Anna's life just so they could use me to do their bidding?"

Alexis stood up as well, "Finn you can't think like that. You don't believe that."

"How should I be thinking? I have no idea if anything I was feeling was real. Alexis, the woman I started to fall in love with wasn't Anna! Our relationship was built on a lie."

"This is a lot to deal with. Finn, take some time with this. Once you've been able to think about it I'm sure you'll know that isn't true."

"I don't need time Alexis, I know what I felt." He turned away from her not sure what to do, what to say. "I need to go. I thought talking would help me but it's only making it worse." Finn turned and walked out, he knew he was right. He knew what he felt and when he started feeling it. Had Alex done it on purpose? Had she set out to have him fall for her so that he thought he loved Anna? The more he thought about it the worse it got but he couldn't stop thinking about it either. Now he just wanted to be alone, Finn decided to go to the hospital. Maybe he could bury himself in work and stop thinking about all of this, even if it is just for a little while.

...

Anna was still trying to wrap her head around what Finn had just admitted, he had left about an hour ago. Finn hadn't meant to but he had slept with Alex. He said that had been when he started to fall in love with her. Robert had come over and sat down beside her after giving her a little time alone. He put his arm around her but hadn't said anything yet. He was just giving her the time she needed, she just leaned against him. Finally, the tears started, she turned to him and Robert put his other arm around her as she cried on his shoulder. When the tears stopped she turned her head resting it against him. "How could she?" she asked in disbelief. "Why, why would Alex do this?"

"I don't know Luv," Robert said as he stroked her hair.

She leaned back and looked up at Robert, "They used Finn like he meant nothing. Like his feelings meant nothing. He was just a pawn in their sick twisted game. How could they do that to someone?"

"They must have their reasons for all of this."

"I don't care what their reasons were. They messed with his life with his feelings. I know they messed with me but why did they have to involve Finn?" Anna got up, she was starting to get angry now. "He didn't deserve this. He's a nice man that," Anna sighed and stopped pacing as her shoulders slumped forward, "that was their way to get to me," she realized. Robert knew he didn't have to say anything, right now Anna just needed to vent. "I want answers. I want to know what the hell is so important that Peter and Alex have no problem messing with people's feelings, with their lives like this."

Robert got up and walked over to her, she looked at him and walked into his arms. "We'll get the answers. They aren't going to get away with this." Being in his arms she knew he meant that, this wasn't over. They would get to the bottom of this.

...

Robert had called Frisco to tell him that they now believe Dr. Hamilton Finn was the person Peter had planted the suggestion on and what they believed the suggestion had been. Robert even told him when they believed it must have happened. Anna and Robert, both agreed that it would have been done in the Adirondack's. Frisco didn't understand why they would have felt the need to do that either but it made them all wonder what had been the real reason for all of this. Robert had also told him that he might want to go talk to Alex again, he wasn't sure if Anna was ready for that at the moment but they both knew Anna would want to go with him.

Robert decided he wanted to take Anna out to dinner, the last couple of days had been quite stressful for her and he just wanted her to take a little time to unwind. Even though he had suggested going somewhere else Anna insisted on going to the Metro Court. As soon as they arrived Robert knew she was hoping that they might see Peter there. "Anna, I wanted us to just enjoy our evening, not come looking for a fight."

"I want answers," she insisted.

"I know you do but that doesn't mean it has to be tonight." He stroked her cheek hoping she understood he just wanted her to enjoy herself this evening.

She saw the love in his eyes, "Fine, I think it'll be better if I wait until I've had a little more time to calm down." She took his hand, "I should have let you take me somewhere else."

"We're here now and we will enjoy ourselves," Robert said as he leaned in a kissed her cheek.

"Yes we will, I promise I will try not to think about Peter and Alex or anything they've done."

"Good. Did I mention that Mac and Felicia are going to join us?"

Anna smiled, "No but I'm glad they are, this will be a fun evening."

Robert knew she was saying that to help convince herself of that but at least she had a better attitude at the moment. "Let's sit down, we can order a drink. I can whisper sweet nothings in your ear."

Anna raised her eyebrow, "Sweet nothing?"

"Sexy suggestion, if that's more your speed tonight," he said with a big grin making her laugh. He put his hand on her back and led them over to their table. After they were seated a waiter came over and they both ordered martinis. Robert leaned in and Anna closed her eyes, a smile on her lips, "I love you," he whispered. "You still take my breath away." He kissed her just below her ear then grinned, "I can't wait to take you home and ravish your body."

He leaned back to see her smiling at him, "That kind of talk should wait until later your brother and Felicia just walked in." She kissed him tenderly, "And you will be doing that later."

Robert smiled then stood up to greet Felicia and Mac. "Glad you guys made it," Robert said. "I'm looking forward to a lot of evenings like this."

Felicia smiled and Mac said, "It's about time you hung around long enough for us to really spend time together again"

They all took their seat, "That's what I'm hoping for too little brother."

"I'm looking forward to the four of us spending time together too," Felicia said with a smile. "I am so happy for you two. Every time I see you together I can tell how happy you both are now."

Anna smiled at Robert, "I spent a long time trying to tell myself I was better off not admitting how I have always felt about Robert." She touched Robert's cheek, "This was always going to happen and I was just fooling myself pretending it wasn't."

"I knew I just had to wait her out," Robert grinned. Anna lightly slapped his arm, he was glad she has seemed to relax now. He put his arm on the back of her chair, he could relax a little now too. They talked about their families for a little bit while they ate then Mac asked if they had any more information about what Peter and Alex might be up to.

Anna sighed and Robert took her hand in his, "They are cruel, they don't care about other people or their feelings. Please tell me that Maxie isn't spending time with Peter anymore," Anna said sounding very serious.

Felicia noticed the change in her demeanour, "What happened?" she asked.

"They didn't just use mind control on Finn, they lured him away for a weekend. He thought I was the one he had gone away with but it was Alex."

Mac looked at Robert then back at Anna, "What are you saying?" he asked.

"Finn spent the weekend with Alex and apparently that was the weekend he knew he was falling in love with me."

Neither Mac or Felicia knew what to say hearing that. There were questions running through their heads but they didn't want to ask them. They both knew Anna most likely didn't know the answers either.

"Finn was starting to get angry because he thought I was trying to pretend I didn't know what he was talking about. When it hit him and I could see the pain on his face," Anna told them. "He realized that he had been fooled by Alex, that he'd had sex with her. I don't know but he may have even realized that was when they programmed him." There was sadness in Anna's voice now and Robert put his arm around her. They had known this for just over 24 hours but it didn't make it any easier to accept.

"Anna," Felicia said not knowing what else to say.

"There's nothing either of you needs to say, knowing this doesn't change anything for me. I'm not sure how Finn is handling knowing this but that's not something I need to worry about. I feel bad for him. If we had still been together I have no idea what this would have meant to our relationship and I am actually quite glad I don't have to think about that."

"Was it Peter that programmed Finn?" Mac asked.

Robert looked at Anna then nodded, "Yeah, we have reason to believe that he picked up that skill from his father."

Felicia gasped, she'd had her own experience with Faison, "I don't want Maxie anywhere near that man."

"If it's just them spending time together as friends but they aren't alone together that should be fine," Robert told them. "Let her know not to be alone with him but if she suddenly stops seeing him altogether he might wonder why. At the moment that might not be a good thing."

"Robby's right, we can't do anything that might cause Peter to get suspicions. He's more dangerous than he wants people to think."

"I'll talk to Maxie tomorrow and I'll have her talked to Lulu. I'll come up with something she can tell Lulu without telling her what's been happening."

"Good, I don't think he'll do anything to either of them but I would hate for something to happen to them if I'm wrong," Anna said.

"OK, I brought Anna out to get this very thing off her mind so if you don't mind I think it's time to change the subject."

Anna leaned over touched his cheek then kissed him, "You are right."

Mac put his arm around Felicia, "I can get used to evenings like this, the Scorpio brothers out with their beautiful lady loves."

"Why don't we all go back to my place," she looked back at Robert, "our place for a nightcap," Anna said with a smile. They all agreed and then got up to leave.

When they got off the elevator in the lobby they saw Finn walking towards them. He noticed that Anna and Robert are holding hands but it doesn't bother him like it had before. "Hello," he said to the group.

"Hello, Finn," Anna said.

"I hope you are all having a nice evening. If you'll excuse me." Then Finn walked away from them. He had no idea what to say to Anna, he had no idea how he felt about her, how he had ever truly felt about her. He was still trying to accept what had been done to him and he didn't want to see her never mind talk to her. Finn didn't blame Anna for what had been done to him but he did know none of this would have happened to him if he had never met her.

As Finn walked away Robert squeezed Anna's hand, he knew that this was painful for her. She looked up at him and smiled glad he understood. "Let's go," she said, then they all left together.

...

After Mac and Felicia had left Robert and Anna had gone up to bed. They were laying in bed together, Robert stroking her hair, her head on his chest. "What's do we do now?" she asked.

He thought he knew what she meant but still asked, "About what?"

"Alex and Peter. They went through a lot of trouble to make me believe Peter was my son. I want to know why."

"I know you do. I have already talked to Frisco about this and if you are interested we can arrange another visit with Alex."

"I think that's a good idea. You'd be there with me right?"

He kissed the top of her head, "Of course I'll be there Luv. We're partners on this one."

"We partners for the rest of our lives," she said as she looked up at him.

"Yes we are," he leaned down and kissed her tenderly.

Anna pulled herself more on top of him, putting her left leg across him. He moaned as she ran her down his chest as the passion grew in their kiss. "I think you said you would ravish me later." She took him in her hand, "Is it later enough?"

Robert smiled, "I want you so much Devane," then kissed her hard. He rolled them over and slid his hand up her body. They had better things to do tonight than worry about other people's agendas.