Chapter 53

Peter walked into the Metro Court and saw Maxie sitting with James and Felicia. Anna hadn't been home when he had gone there the night before so maybe he can find out from them where she was without having to come right out and ask about her. Casually he walked over to their table, "Hello ladies. I haven't seen you around much lately, either of you. May I join you?"

"Of course," Felicia said. "Mac and I have been doing a little travelling, The Floating Rib has been keeping us busy as well, but it's this little man that has been taking up most of my time," she said smiling at James in her lap.

"Yeah now that Jax is at Crimson Nina and I have been working non-stop to make sure he sees that we are capable of running the magazine and that it is profitable. Mom and Dad have been lifesavers watching James for me."

"Oh, that's wonderful. What kind of travelling have you been doing?" Peter asked, turning back to Felicia.

"We actually took James out to see Robin and her family. That was a lot of fun, James and Noah had a blast together. I took so many pictures while we were there."

Maxie glanced over at her mother, wondering why she was being so nice when she was the one that warned her not to get too close to Peter. That he could have done very bad things and that they didn't really know what he was capable of. "It makes me sad that Robin doesn't live here any longer, it would be so great if James and Noah got to grow up together. They would be best buddies."

Peter just smiled, them talking about the kids isn't going to help him find out where Anna is or what she might be up to. "I'm sure Anna would love it if Robin and her family were closer as well."

"Oh I'm sure she would, so would Robert but they understood why they made the choice to move away," Felicia told him.

"I guess they both try to make it out there to visit often," he said, maybe that's where she is he hoped.

"Yes, they do. Now that they are back together I'm sure their visits are even more enjoyable for all of them." Felicia realized that Peter was trying to get something out of them. She knew Anna and Robert were out of town, that they had been to see Alex and were now at Sean and TIffany's. Was that what he wanted to know? Was Peter worried that they were digging into his past? Was that why he had joined them? "I just hope they are enjoying their visit with Sean and Tiff. I know Tiffany likes it when their old friends come to see them." Yeah, she saw that look, Peter was happy to hear that they were just visiting friends. Just then James started to fuss distracting her from her thoughts.

Maxie still wasn't sure why her mother was telling Peter these things but it was close to James' nap time so she was more concerned with getting him home. "Mom, I think we should get going. That little man needs a nap."

"Alright, it was nice seeing you, Peter." Then they both stood up, got their things together then left. Peter watched them leave, a smile on his face pleased to know that Anna and Robert were just visiting friends. He didn't need them looking into his past. It concerned him that if there was someone that was going to look into his past it would be them. As long as he doesn't do anything to draw attention to himself they should have no reason to worry about his past coming to light. His mother will protect their secrets, she will make sure he is not implicated he thought with a smirk. He isn't happy that his mother is in prison but if it meant his freedom then it needed to be that way.

…

The door opened and Tiffany smiled brightly happy to see them. "Oh, it is so good to see you both. Come in." Anna and Robert stepped inside and they all hugged each other.

"Hi, it is so good to see you again," Anna said as they turned and walked further into the house.

"You both look very happy, I take it things are going well," Tiff said as she glanced over her shoulder at Robert.

"Yes, they are." Anna took Tiffany's arm. "Thank you for sending that letter. I now have truly what makes me happy. Robert is the man I'm meant to be with."

"I could tell things hadn't changed between the two of you in all this time. You just needed a little nudge to see what was right in front of you."

Robert had a grin on his face as he listened to them talk. Then he asked, "Where's Sean?"

"Oh, he and Ann just went for a little walk on the grounds. He did know you were going today but this morning he had kind of a rough start so Ann suggested a nice walk after breakfast."

"Alright," Robert said as Anna turned and put her arm around him. She instantly knew he was worried that Sean might not know him. "Which room are we staying in?"

"The room you normally stay in, darling."

"Thanks, Tiff. I'll just go put our bags away." He stepped past them and heard them giggle as he turned down the hall. It felt good to be here, Robert thought. He put their bags on the bed and glanced out the window, smiling when he saw Sean and Ann walking back towards the house. Hopefully, it will be a good visit, both he and Anna could use a little downtime. They have to figure out what to do about Alex and what they both feel Peter did to her. Robert sighed, he didn't want to even think about that right now. "Nope that can wait," he said to himself then he turned and walked back out of the room.

All thoughts of Alex and Peter were put out of his head as Robert saw Sean happily greet Anna. He walked right over and hugged her, "I am so glad you're back, Anna."

"So am I. It's good to see you." She gave him a kiss then leaned back in his arms.

"You aren't here alone, are you? I thought Tiff said Robert was going to be here."

"Right behind you."

Sean turned when he heard him, "Hey, old buddy." Robert came over and gave him a hug then they turned to the ladies in the room. "What case is it that brings you two here? I know you came to pick the old brain," Sean asked, catching them a little off guard.

"No case, we wanted to come and see you since we were in the area," Anna told him.

Robert saw the look on Tiff's face and realized they should go along with what Sean was thinking. "Well, if you're willing to help. It couldn't hurt to talk about it." Robert looked over at Anna and tilted his head.

"No, we said we weren't going to bother Sean with this. I came to visit our friends, that's what I plan on doing." She had caught on as quickly as Robert and know this was the best way to handle this.

Robert leaned in a little closer to Sean and whispered, "I'll talk to her again. If she doesn't agree, I'll have to talk to you about it later this evening."

"Alright," Sean nodded and glanced over at Anna. "She'll understand, she knows you're acting in her best interest."

"She doesn't always see that at the time," Robert answered. What was Sean thinking about and how does it affect Anna? When does he think it is? He patted Sean on the back, "We'll talk more later." Robert looked over at Tiffany and she shrugged a little, almost to say, it's been happening.

"Now that we're all here, what's been happening? How's Robin?" Tiff asked. "It was so nice seeing her at the Nurses' Ball."

Anna sat down with Tiff, taking her hand. "She's busy, Noah is getting into everything," Anna said with a smile.

"He is such a cutie. I think there's a lot of his grandfather in that little guy," Tiffany said, grinning over at Robert.

"They are best buddies. It is so wonderful seeing him with both Noah and Emma but now seeing him as the man I love with our grandchildren," Anna grinned with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I am so glad you sent me that letter, Tiff. I really am. Our feelings never changed but we both had to be willing to try, to risk it. I am so glad we did."

"I can tell, it's plain to see you're both happy, even if you are both stressing about something."

Anna looked over to see Robert and Sean walk out of the room together. "It's that obvious?" Tiff just nodded. "We were going to come for a visit on our way back to Port Charles, instead we came now because we needed a chance to figure out what we do next in regards to Alex." They had been keeping Tiffany abreast of what was happening involving Alex and how that was affecting all of them.

"You'll still want to go back to talk to her some more?" Tiff inquired.

"Yeah, once we know what our next step is. There is conflicting information and some other information that just doesn't add up so we are proceeding with caution."

"And the things you are finding out are a lot to take in so you need time to process what you've found out and how to handle it."

Anna sighed, it was nice that Tiff understood them all so well. She had been with Sean long enough to know when it was the case bothering him, so she could see that in her and Robert today as well. "We are now concerned that Peter may have used mind control on Alex so we need to try to figure out if we're right without letting on to what we're up to." Anna went on to tell her a little more about what had happened over the last three days. Then they had moved on to talking about friends and the going ons in Port Charles. That was when Anna noticed that Sean and Robert had been gone for quite some time. "Where do you think they got to?"

"Sean must have taken him to his office. They are sure to be talking about whatever case Sean has cooked up this time. He's been confused about when it is lately but letting him work on finding information seems to keep him relaxed. Then he comes back to the present and whatever he was working on is forgotten about."

"How often does that happen?"

"Maybe every four or five days and it doesn't last all day." Anna saw the sadness in Tiffany's eyes as she spoke. They both knew this was only going to get worse but neither of them wanted to mention that. He knew who they were and what they all mean to each other, that was enough for today. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

…

Finn had just walked into the Metro Court to meet with Alexis. Even as he went about his day he couldn't get one thought out of his mind. Finn wanted to know who was working with Alex. It had to be someone that had been around him, someone that had been close enough to reverse that suggestion. So who was it? Who here knew Alex? Valentin, he thought. He had been the one that told Anna about how she must have had a child. Had he helped who he believed to be Anna when she had been pregnant? Was there more to it than just taking that child to Faison?

He knew he shouldn't be thinking about this, that it wasn't going to help him. He should just wait to hear what Anna finds out, but what if she didn't get answers. Then he thought, actually it would help to at least know who had been involved. To know who was walking around this city with the knowledge of what they had done to him. Was Anna right, was the thing about Peter the only thing that they had planted in his head? How could they be so sure about that, what if there was more? What if they could make him do something that he shouldn't? What kind of person had done this to him?

It had to be Valentin, Finn was becoming more and more convinced of that. He had witnessed enough of what Valentin was capable of to know he couldn't just approach him. He couldn't just walk up and ask him if he had the skills required to use mind control on people. Just then Valentin stepped off the elevator with Nina, was it you, Finn wondered.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Have you been waiting long?"

Finn looked up at Alexis and smiled, "Hi, I just got here myself." She joined him then started talking a mile a minute about a case she had just presented and was now waiting for the verdict to come back. Finn relaxed, listening to her ramble. This was just the distraction he needed. He needed to stop focusing on what had been done to him. He smiled as Alexis exhaled loudly then continued talking.