Brownstone, Port Charles 11am
Bobbie is running for the door after hearing the doorbell ring several times. "I'm coming, I'm coming, keep your pants on." She says before opening the door.
"I guarantee you, we will." Luke says.
"Luke! Laura!" Bobbie screams.
"Hey Sis, miss us?" He says grabbing her into a big bear hug and swinging her around.
"Luke, why didn't you tell me you guys were coming to town?"
"Where's the fun in that?" He says moving out of the foyer and into the living room.
"Laura, it's so wonderful to see you. Where is my one and only nephew?" Just as she finishes her question, Lucky appears in the foyer.
"Speak of the devil. By the way usually that's just a figure of speech, but in his case truer words were never spoken." Luke says with a smile while they all turn to look at Lucky.
Ruby has arrived at the Brownstone and the Spencer family is continuing their reunion. Luke and Laura fill in the family on what has been going on in their lives down in Texas over the past couple of months, since it has been a while since they contacted either Ruby or Bobbie. Luke made a decision many years ago not to involve his sister or Ruby in any of the problems they have had to deal with over the last couple of years, mostly out of fear for their safety. His calls home mainly center on domestic issues involving their ranch and updates on Lucky as he was growing up.
"How long are you planning two stay in Port Charles?" Ruby asks both of them.
"Well, we don't know. We were actually hoping to make this a long visit, even possibly setting up Lucky here in school for the time being." He says looking at his son, who rolls his eyes.
"That's fantastic." Ruby exclaims hugging Luke. "I couldn't be happier."
"Us too Ruby. Its been too long. Being around family is what we need and I think this is a good start." Laura adds. "However, we will need a place to stay. Do you and Tony have any vacancies here?" she asks Bobbi.
"Actually you are in luck. We just finally finished renovating the attic into a large apartment that spans the length of the house. We decided to do it at the beginning of the year after we sold your old house Laura to the Scorpios last year." Bobbi says.
"We were just about to publish the vacancy. It looks like we don't have to now. This is great." She adds.
"Oh that's right. Robert and his wife bought the house. I remember Luke telling me. I'm so glad that house stayed in the family, sought of speak. Are they happy there now? I know it's been a rough year for them." Laura says.
"Yes, I think finally after everything that has happened. In fact for as long as I've known both Robert and Anna, I've never seen them happier. Wait, neither one of you has met either Anna or Robin, not to mention their new son, have you?" Bobbi asks with sudden realization.
"No we haven't although I have been in contact with Robert over the years and very recently, I might add. He has managed to fill me in on what's been going on in his life. But you know Robert, he's never one for long descriptions or long conversations for that matter. He's told me about Anna and Robin, the basics mind you. So what's she like anyway?" Luke says taking a sip of coffee and asking no one in particular.
"Anna? Well where to start." Bobbi starts with a chuckle. "She's one tough lady. I don't think I've ever met any woman as formidable as her. I consider her one of my closest friends and I can count on her and Robert for anything. She has a very strong personality and is very loyal to her friends and especially her family. She takes those responsibilities very seriously, deadly serious if you get my meaning. So, I guess the best way to describe her is to say she's the female version of Robert, but subtract the arrogance and add a lot more sweetness." Bobbi adds as everyone laughs.
She notices Luke's shocked expression at her description of Anna and says after a beat "Scary isn't it?"
"Positively bone-chilling." Luke replies after a long moment.
"Yeah well it works for them. As a matter of fact, if any two people were meant for each other, it's those two. They have a long history together and sadly apart, but they have always managed to stay in each other's orbit. In fact it was only last year that they finally reconnected and remarried after thirteen years. But all too quickly we thought we lost Anna and possibly Robert, but in the end they finally caught a break." Bobbi says somberly remembering that terrible time as she watched Robert suffer trying to find his wife.
"Well she sounds very interesting to say the least. A female Robert you say? That is frightening. Actually, after Holly, I never thought Robert would marry again. But then again, I had no idea this woman even existed." Luke says.
"We are all just happy that everything turned out well for them and they even have a son now." Ruby adds. She flinched at his mention of Holly. She's not sure if they know she is in town or that she's involved with Robert's brother or that Robert even has a brother for that matter. She decides to leave all of that for another time hoping Bobbi feels same.
"Are you planning to visit Robert anytime soon?" Bobbi asks.
"Yes, actually I was planning on stopping over there later today while Laura and Lucky settle in here." Luke states as he looks at Laura. Laura knows that Robert has something very important to talk to Luke about as they discussed his conversations on the way up to Port Charles. It frightens her little to know something is going on since the last thing they need is more turmoil in their lives right now. But they have a feeling that it all might connect somehow. She doesn't want to leave Lucky alone in a strange place and they both agreed he would visit Robert alone this first time.
Scorpio House, Port Charles 1:00 pm
Robert is busy in the office sorting and re-sorting the piles of data he was working on last night at the office. He has taken a detached clinical approach as he pieces together the timeline of events over the last eleven years. It's a self-defense mechanism he has learned as a trained agent and it serves him well now as his life and those of his family and friends are dissected to the nth degree.
He doesn't hear her as she approaches with William in her arms who is wide awake but content.
"Hey. Are you up for a visit?" Anna asks knowing he could probably use a distraction by now since he has been at this for four hours non-stop. He looks up from his desk and smiles wide when he sees them both.
"From you two? Always. How's the boy wonder?" He asks taking him from Anna and holding him up.
"He's really good. In fact I just got him to really laugh. It was his first real laugh Robert. Wanna see?" She asks all excited and proud. She kneels down next to him and the baby using Robert's thigh for support.
"Really? A real laugh, of course I want to see. How'd you do it?" He asks equally excited.
"With this, watch and let's hope he doesn't make a liar out of me." She says a she shows him the small stuffed kangaroo she has in her hands. She proceeds to tickle William with it while Robert holds him on his lap. As if on cue, their son starts to smile as his mother continues talking to him and tickling him. Then he begins to giggle uncontrollably that adorable baby giggle. It's contagious and both Robert and Anna start laughing along with him. They look at each other with equal amounts of pride and joy and are once again thankful that they are able to share moments like this. He takes her hand in his with tears in eyes as he looks from his son to his wife.
"This is what it's all about, isn't it?" She asks with choked emotion seeing how emotional he is getting. He nods because he can't find his voice. He continues to look at his son who is still smiling looking at his mother's face.
Sometime later they are sitting on the couch in the office together with William on Robert's lap and Anna leaning against Robert side with her head on his shoulder. She hates to spoil these wonderful moments, but again the current crisis in their lives must intrude.
"Robert, Sean called a little while ago. I told him that we received a copy of the will this morning. He's with Frisco at the PI office and they want to see it as soon as possible." She says.
"I'll bring it by this afternoon." He says without looking up from William.
"Well actually I told him I'd bring it within the hour. They have some other leads they are working on as well that they thought we should know. Will you stay with William? I shouldn't be more than a couple of hours. I fed him before I came in here, so he should be good for the next three hours. There are also two bottles in the fridge just in case. Okay?" She says bracing for an argument. He looks up and sees that she is daring him to challenge her.
"That's fine. But remember our agreement." He says looking back down at his son.
"Which one is that?" She asks a little irritated. Surprised that he agreed so quickly but already knowing the answer and clearly agitated.
"Anna, you know what I'm talking about. No actions taken unless it's cleared through me first remember?" He says with matching irritation.
"That was your agreement with Sean and Frisco. I wasn't asked as I recall." She says.
"Anna, give me a break here will you. Just do this for me, please." He says looking at her and daring her to challenge him.
"Robert, I...Fine….fine, whatever." She says stopping herself from making more of this than it is for the moment.
"No solos. Promise me, please." He says.
"Okay, no solos." He looks sideways at her.
"Alright, alright I promise." She says exasperated. "You know William. Your father is impossible." She says to the baby. She looks up at Robert and smiles.
"Thank you." He says smiling at her.
"I'd say you're welcome, but I'd be lying." She kisses him and then William before leaving.
PI Office, Port Charles 1:30PM
Anna enters the door to her office and drops her coat and briefcase on her desk. She pulls out the manila envelope containing Faison's will and looks at it momentarily. She thinks back to this morning when Robert handed it to her when she came into the office. She knew immediately what was in the envelope by his demeanor and the solemn look on his face. However, she was still surprised he had not uttered a word until she read the read the passage Faison had added. It was the ramblings of a delusional man who was certain in the fact that she would eventually not only marry him, but bear his children. He was convinced that the life she had lived before him including her love for Robert and for her daughter would be replaced and forgotten by the life they would build together. He was so warped by his own fantasies that he felt it was necessary to ensure that she receive all the benefits of his estate and his fortune. It was a sobering reminder to her of how much she had risked by playing on his obsession with her. Her own inflated perception of her abilities and her persistent need to prove herself to everyone especially her husband that she could handle the situation almost caused her to lose everything.
When she had finished reading the will this morning, she looked up to see that Robert was deeply involved with the papers on his desk or he was pretending to be. She knows he doesn't blame her for what happened, but deep down she wonders if maybe he does resent in some way her part in bringing this man into their lives, more specifically his life. She puts those thoughts aside and gathers herself together and opens the interior door to Sean's office and sees Sean and Frisco around the table in the middle of the room.
"Hi sweetheart. I didn't hear you come in. You look wonderful." Sean says taking in her appearance. This woman gets more beautiful to him every day he thinks.
"Thank you." She says devoid of emotion. "So what are we working on here? You mentioned you had come across more information." She asks getting down to business.
"Yeah, we think we have actually tracked down the leader of this entire operation and we think this leader has been calling the shots since day one. And when I say day one, I mean going back 12 years. We finally received the information on the Luxembourg accounts this morning. It wasn't easy obtaining this information, but my contacts with OFAC owed me a favor, a huge favor and they came through." Frisco says looking up at her from the table.
"Is Robert with you?" He says a little surprised that he's not with her and a little uneasy about it. He knows Robert's strong feelings on letting Anna get involved in anything more than benign data analysis.
"No, he decided to stay home with William." She says looking at the paperwork spread out on the table.
"He decided?" Sean asks with a smirk.
"Yes, he decided." She says looking at Sean with a raised eyebrow. "I brought the will with me. Make a copy, we need to keep the original." She says handing it to Sean who takes it from her and heads to the copy machine.
In the next hour Sean and Frisco review with Anna what they have discovered and what led them to their conclusion regarding the ring-leader of the entire operation. Most of the names and the history are unfamiliar to her. These connections and activities occurred during the period of time right after her and Robert divorced. However, the second hour of their conversation delved deep into Cesar Faison's and Holly Sutton's history and how they believe eventually they learned of each other's existence and what events transpired after that time.
They also reviewed her own history including her parents and how the woman she had known as Nanny for a short period of time came into her life. She remembers Nanny having a son and seeing him briefly during the time she was employed by her family. She remembers him being much older and a very odd man who liked to read Russian poetry in a dark room by candlelight. She remembers one specific incident where she caught the man watching her while she walked the garden of her family's estate and that it had made her very uncomfortable. She knows now it was Cesar, but the memory of him is so brief and unrecognizable that she can't equate the two.
"The only connection I think you play in all of this Anna, believe or not, is purely coincidental and the lynch-pin was the woman you knew as Nanny, Faison's mother. Her employment by your parents is what brought him into your life and it appears his obsession with you started then when you were only a teenager. He sought you out years later after he knew your parents had died and you had joined the WSB in the accelerated program. He knew then you were vulnerable and he preyed on that vulnerability Anna." Sean explains trying to gauge her reaction. He sees she has tears in her eyes and she is still looking down at the papers on the table in a blank stare. Frisco and Sean look at each other slightly concerned.
"What about Holly?" She asks quietly without looking up at either of them. They look at each other confused.
"What about Holly?" Frisco asks quietly.
"I mean have we learned anything more about her involvement in this. Did she use and manipulate Robert from the start? Did she have a direct role in my abduction? Did she knowingly put my family's lives at risk? I have to know Sean. I need to know." She says devoid of any other emotion but pure anger.
"No we don't. We only know what we have so far and that is the intercepted communications between her and Faison immediately before and during the time you were being held by Faison. That's it, that's all we have. The fact that she happens to be his half-sister is not direct proof that she was deliberately involved in everything that has happened over the last twelve years. For all we know, anything that she has done, if anything, was forced upon her. She could have been threatened by Faison, the Cassadines or the Sutton's into doing their bidding."
Anna is not buying Sean's alternate theory. She is absolutely convinced that Holly was somehow involved in her abduction whether from the beginning or a willing participant after the fact.
"I have to leave all options open. I have to look at this from all angles and consider all possibilities" Sean states matter-of-factly.
"Yes, I know. That is something you do tend to do. Don't' you?"
Scorpio House, Port Charles 3:00PM
The doorbell rings as Robert is trying to juggle heating up William's bottle and calming his screaming son. He curses the gods, as he realizes he has to answer the door, since the person on the other side is now leaning on the bell.
"Damn. Hold on little man." He shuts off the gas under the pot of boiling water with the bottle in it and heads out of the kitchen. He heads for the front door while holding William to his shoulder with one hand and opening the door with the other. There on the other side is none other than Luke Spencer.
"Luke. I should have known. Only you could ring a doorbell in the most annoying way." Robert says with a huge smile internally ecstatic to see his old friend.
Luke just stands there and takes in the sight before him; Robert Scorpio, world-class spy and secret agent holding a screaming infant with practiced ease while wearing jeans and un-tucked collared-shirt with a cloth diaper on his shoulder.
"Sorry Sir, my mistake wrong house." Luke says pretending to walk away.
"Shut-up and get in here you idiot." Robert yells at him. "Come in and sit down, just hold on a second I'll be right back." Robert tries to say over William's screaming.
Luke walks in and around the living room taking in the scene. He remembers this house from so many years ago, but it is so different now. It is the Scorpio house now and he can tell by the expensive furnishings and the family touches that they have made this house their home. Just as he is about to sit down, Robin comes through the front door and is startled to see a strange man sitting in her living room with no one else around. She also noticed the guards are not out front and she begins to get nervous. Then she begins to recognize the man's face from old photos her father has shown her. It's Luke Spencer she suddenly remembers.
"Hi, you're Luke Spencer aren't you? I'm Robin." She says approaching him and extending her hand.
"It's an honor to finally meet you Robin. Your father said you were beautiful and he was right" Luke says bending down slightly and taking her hand.
"Thank you, its nice to finally meet you too. Is my Dad or my Mom here?" She asks.
"Actually your father is.."
"I'm right here Robin. Your mother is out running a few errands." Robert says coming into the living room holding William and feeding him his bottle.
"Listen Love, can you do your old man a favor and finish feeding your brother while Luke and I talk for a bit?" Robert asks.
"Sorry Dad I can't. I have dance class in twenty minutes. I just came home to get my stuff. Jodi's mom is waiting outside in the car to take us and she'll pick us up later too. It was nice to meet you Mr. Spencer." She says running up the stairs.
"Swell." Robert says. "Look lets go into my office back here." He says to Luke who follows behind him shaking his head and smiling because he feels like he's stepped into the twilight zone.
PI Office, Port Charles
"What does that mean?" Sean asks rather surprised. Frisco senses an intense conversation is about to take place. He looks at his watch and gets up from the table.
"Look, I'm going to head home early since I have to go to New York tomorrow. I'll talk to you both when I get back."
"Thanks Frisco. Talk to you tomorrow." Sean says.
He leaves as both Sean and Anna are staring at each other.
"What's going on Anna? What did you mean by that?" Sean asks standing up as well.
She walks past him because she still can't look at him sometimes when she thinks about that incident.
"It just means I know you like to look at all the possibilities, alternate theories. That's all." She says not knowing how to continue.
"I think its way more than that. What's going on with you? I know there is something wrong and now I know it has something to do with me. So let's get this out in the open." He says to her back. She gathers her strength and turns to face him.
"Why when I was taken did you feel it necessary to tell Robert about that day at Faison's jail cell and that it might be a possibility that I had gone off with Faison willingly."
"Anna." Sean says trying to calm the situation and walking toward her. He stops suddenly.
"You told MY husband Sean, the man that I love, the man that I was finally building a life with after thirteen years of separation that it was possible I had left him willingly based on a scene you witnessed that you knew nothing about. How could you do that to me, to us, after everything you had already done?" She is shouting at him now, he is stunned into silence.
He has known there was something bothering her recently in her demeanor toward him. He had felt a sudden chill over the last week above and beyond everything else going on and now he knows.
"I don't know what to say Anna except that I felt it necessary that Robert knew. I am not defending it or justifying it. I will say that my actions were based on my concern for my friend and the danger he was putting himself in. It was another aspect and fact of the case at the time and like you said yourself, it's what I do. You can either accept that or not. It's your choice. But know this, I love you both and would do anything for both of you so you can trust me on that or not, but again that's your choice." He states without emotion.
She is silent as she listens to him, but knows in the end that's the best explanation she is going to get from him and something she will just have to accept.
"There is only one person that I have ever or will ever trust completely." She states vehemently.
"I know and I accept that. Can we move on from this Anna?" He asks knowing they must put this behind them now with everything on the line. He knows she will be able to being the professional that she is. "Are we Ok?" He asks after a moment of silence.
She looks down briefly and then back up at him. "No, but we will be. That's all I can give you for now." She answers honestly.
"I can accept that." He says with a slight smile which she matches briefly. He is somewhat concerned that this is being brought up now after all this time.
"Anna, is something wrong between you and Robert? Why are we talking about this now?' He asks.
"No, nothing is wrong other than this mess we are in. Robert and I have worked through all of this." She says.
"Anna, despite the evidence at the time, he never doubted you for a second. He loves you with all that he is and that will never change. You have to know that." He adds.
"I do know." She says with conviction.
At that moment Tiffany walks in and immediately senses the tension but decides to ignore it.
"Anna, I was actually on my way over to your house. Did you bring William with you?" she asks.
"Hi Tiffany, actually no not this time. He's home with Robert and I should be getting back come to think of it." She says looking at her watch noticing she's been gone for almost three hours.
"How's your elbow? Does it still hurt?" Tiffany asks.
"My elbow?" Anna asks confused.
"Yeah, when we were talking this morning you banged your elbow on the counter remember? It sounded painful." Tiffany continues knowing full well what was really going on and enjoying how quickly Anna becomes flustered and flushed. Mortified, suddenly remembering this morning, Anna blushes instantly and deeply which does not go unnoticed.
"Right, my elbow; oh its fine. I actually forgot so can't be too bad right? Well I've gotta run. Tiff, I'll call you later, okay?" Anna says grabbing the documents off the table and heading back to her office.
Out of earshot, Tiffany turns around to Sean, "Elbow my foot." She says with a smirk.