Somewhere over South Australia

Genji called out into the cabin of the Piper Chieftain he's piloted out of Melbourne airport, "Landing in thirty minutes! Strap in. It's a small runway."

Anna heard the notice but didn't stop her window watching of the landscape below. She'd never been to this part of Australia. Beside her, Robert had enjoyed pointing out landmarks. Several seats behind them, Robin was doing the same to Vincent for whom this was a first visit to Down Under.

"It's beautiful country, Robert," said Anna peering at a low mountain range.

"It's remote. The closest town only has five hundred people," said Robert. "But it's a great place for growing children. I had the best childhood here. The ranch, the wide open spaces, the woods, the mountains, it's all here."

"For little boys who love the cowboy life, maybe," laughed Anna. "Why did you leave?"

"My grandfather started the ranch and my father continued it. It was in his blood but not his passion," said Robert. "When he got into politics, we spent more time in Melbourne. The city infected me and I started dreaming of other things beyond ranching and farming."

"Enter the police academy and the WSB."

"I would have been perfectly happy being a sheriff here and to live on the ranch part time. But the Cassadines killed that dream for me," said Robert. "I joined the WSB to find them. And once I was out in the world, coming back here was too painful."

"But you DID come back with Holly."

"Yeah. It was a mistake for both of us," said Robert. "I still hadn't put my parents' deaths behind me and Mac's betrayal of the family. I thought that starting a new life here would erase the old. I had questions and the answers weren't here for me to find. Instead, I took on cases for the Bureau. Holly was as safe as I could make her here but safety wasn't what she needed. I left her here too often for too long and our marriage suffered for it. That was all on me."

"You could have moved back to Port Charles with Holly."

"When I was home, we were happy. I didn't know how unhappy she was when I was gone. She put up a brave front until she couldn't anymore. When we had it out, well, it was a case of supremely bad timing." He took Anna's hand in his. "But things happen for a reason. I moved back, got to see my daughter grow up and shared the highs and lows of life with you. No regrets."

"Robert, she's coming back here. Is that a good idea?" asked Anna.

"Can't be helped. I want one of my people escorting Holly back home personally. Someone I trust completely who's not on the team," said Robert. "I couldn't risk her safety by having her separate from the group in Tokyo. Someone could still be watching us, all of us."

"With Edgar and Andrew with her, there are few situations they couldn't handle."

"Right."

"But, Robert, I don't want to cause her any unintended pain by coming here. This was your home together."

Robert was thoughtful. "I think she'll be fine. We had good memories here and very little of the bad sort. We've both moved on. On the other hand, I'd like to think that you'd love it here."

"Are you thinking of moving back?"

"No but should our ultimate plans fall apart the ranch is … is the last and safest place for all of us," said Robert. "I know Andrew loves it here and Robin did when she was small. I want … I need to know that you'll be happy, too. That you'll stay because you want to. Will you think about it while we're here?"

Anna kissed him, looked into his concerned eyes and said, "My home isn't a place, Robert."

One Temple Court

The workmen had begun bright and early. The sounds of power saws and hammering echoed throughout the multi-story Galleria. Sawdust and chalk made noses twitch and sneeze. Felicia's eyes followed the staircase as it wound up and up. She squinted at the skylight high above.

"I can't believe this place has been here all this time," said Felicia.

"Yeah. The family who owned it couldn't renovate the place and no one would buy it. They kept it boarded up," said Maxie leading her mother to the elevator.

"Except for Sean?"

"Tiffany and Dianara actually. They sunk a lot of money into buying it. The renovation loan is huge! We have to open as scheduled and get the shops filled up, too."

"You're showing the residential units, right?"

Maxie nodded. "Plus the stores on the Galleria levels."

"And you're holding down a job at Crimson?"

"Only Lulu and I could ever put up with Kate, our boss, so we stay," said Maxie.

"That's a lot of work," said Felicia entering the elevator.

Maxie pushed the right floor and the elevator lurched then began to climb. She stamped her foot down. "It's not supposed to jerk like that. It should be smooth. I have to talk to the elevator people AGAIN! I am going to make them fix this if it's the last thing I do."

Felicia looked at her daughter. She had changed in physical ways but it was the non-physical changes that she marveled at. "Why are you doing all of it? Is money a … a problem? If it is I could-"

"No, no, Mom, it's fine."

"You haven't touched the trust fund that your grandmother gave you. It's not big but it could help you out," said Felicia. "She sold the Hacienda to make that fund."

Maxie sighed. "I … I don't deserve it."

"It's not a matter of deserving something. It's a gift."

"But I should be able to make it on my own, Mom. I can't rely on you or RealDad because …"

"Because we're unreliable," finished Felicia.

"Yes. No. It's … it's your life. It's not mine. I have to make my life what I want it to be," explained Maxie. "With my commissions, I'll have a good chunk of my flat paid off and, if I brown bag my lunch for a while, I'll have my school tuition ready for a full year."

"You make that much on commissions?"

"These are luxury units, Mom. Wait 'til you see my place. The view isn't as good as the penthouse but it's good enough for me."

The elevator stopped and it lurched once more. Maxie made a face.

Maxie unlocked her unit. "That's it. I am going to find another elevator company."

Felicia stared around the spacious living room.

"I use the spare room as a study and storage room but, um, there's a daybed in there," said Maxie. "I, uh, I thought that maybe you'd like to stay here with me until you decide what you want to do next. Maybe get over the jet lag. But you don't have to if … if you don't want to. I just thought it was a good idea."

Felicia held Maxie by the shoulder. "Yes. I would love to stay. I love you even more that you asked me to."

Villa Scorpio

Command and Control was a study of contrasts. Beyond the monitor consoles, the cubicles had been pushed to the side and tables set up where the cubicles had been. Giles and Lars tapped earnestly in their cubicles while Alys went back and forth between tables with armfuls of folders.

Dani watched the activity for a minute before deciding that she was more curious about what Alys was doing. She walked over to her.

"Did we get a fresh batch of materials while I was sleeping?" she asked Alys.

Alys looked over the rim of her bifocals, "Morning, Dani! No new material." She lifted her arms to indicate the folders. "These are printouts from the DAT tapes. The boys are going through the DVD data disc and I got the tapes."

"But, why did you print them out? It looks like there are hundreds of folders here."

"I stopped counting after one hundred and fifty," said Alys moving about placing folders into piles on the table. "Unlike you with your younger eyes, I can't sit and look at a monitor for hours at a time scanning for a needle in a haystack. My kind of analysis is more hands on. We didn't have the benefit of computers in my day. We had file cabinets." She pointed at her forehead. "And we had this - our own computers that don't need electricity or batteries."

"What are you hoping to find doing it this way?" asked Dani genuinely curious now.

"These were originally IN file folders. Documents have the usual stamps indicating where they were filed and when. On television, you see them recreating the crime scenes or what they think happened. Well, I'm recreating the way the data was originally. Because whether they are in a electronic form or paper, it's all bits of data, right?"

"Hmm, yeah but I still don't get it."

Alys put down the last folder she had. "If you had to diagnose and treat a patient, what would you prefer to have on hand - the patient or a clipboard of his medical history and symptoms?"

"Ah, I got it. Thank you for explaining."

"None of us know everything. You learn how true that is the older you get and the longer you survive in our line of work," said Alys. "Once I had everything organized in their folders, I did the next step in analysis - pattern recognition. So, I sorted the folders by their given names first. It's a rather eclectic collection we have here. Some folders are filed under peoples' names, some for names of operations and some just have a number on them. That … variety is a pattern in itself."

"In medicines, different symptoms combine to indicate an illness but you have to find out why the symptoms exist then trace them to possible root causes usually by a process of elimination," said Dani. She motioned at the folder piles. "There's a … a correlation somewhere here. Am I on the right track?"

"Perfectly. Sorting by name didn't give me anything obvious so I sorted by file size. The operations files were thicker than the rest but that still didn't give me a good clue as to what I needed to be looking for. Then I began to look into a few of them. Read whole folders. That's when I found it."

"It?"

"The key is time. You would think that the folders from the seventies, for example, would have no documentation from a later time period."

"Once a case is over, it's over."

"That is not the case with these files. I began to sort according to the most current document in each folder irregardless of when the folder was created or the type or topic of the folder. On the tables here, one pile is one year. One table per decade from the seventies to the current time. The pattern leapt out before I'd gone halfway through sorting."

Dani eyed the tables with renewed interest. It was like a bell curve. The most folders were stacked in the late eighties and early nineties. The ends of the curve predictably tailed off in the seventies and present day. "A near perfect bell curve."

"Oh, yes," said Alys. "We know where to look now. We suspect that these records aren't in SIMON. Or if they are, they're not complete. What was so interesting during those years that they had to be kept hidden? Once we find out the what and why, then defining the who should be child's play."

"That's amazing," said Dani.

Alys laughed. "It's called old school analysis. We veterans may have more gray hairs up top but we do know a few extra things you don't."

"I'm all yours. Teach me. What can I do to help?"

"Here come the tedious bits that I never had much patience for myself," said Alys."Starting with the tallest piles, we have to take each folder and crossmatch to the data in SIMON now. I know we'll find missing items but what is anyone's guess. Any anomalies we find, we'll put in a separate area." She sighed. "I'm going to need another table."

"Maybe a rack with multiple shelves will work?" asked Dani. At Alys' nod, she added, "I'll get one and be right back."

One Temple Court

In Maxie's apartment a reunion was taking place. Felicia sat between Sean and Tiffany on the couch.

"You know seeing you on the monitor is one thing but being able to give you a hug is so much better," said Tiffany.

"I second that," said Sean.

"I can't wait to meet Belle. She looks just like you Tif," said Felicia.

Tiffany smiled. "On the outside but she's all her daddy on the inside."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're exaggerating," said Sean.

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, sweetheart." She turned to Felicia. "While Maxie's at work, give me the scoop. What are you doing here?"

Felicia's bright expression turned serious. She looked at her two dear friends. "We're tired. I'm tired and Frisco is … is beyond burnt out. We've stayed in as long as we could but … everyone has a breaking point. For me it was Georgie's death and Tony's for Frisco. We're coming home for good. I just hope that it's not too late for us and Maxie."

Sean sat back in the sofa thinking. Tiffany gave Felicia a hug.

"It's a good sign that you're here at her place isn't it?" asked Tiffany.

"I couldn't believe it when she asked me to stay," said Felicia. "She's grown up into her own person. I barely know her."

"You'll get to know her. Don't worry about that. It's never too late."

"I want to know everything but I know I have to give her some space. Not smother her or be too pushy," said Felicia. "But I can't stand waiting and not knowing if we could be a family again."

Tiffany took hold of Felicia's hand. "You know that daughter of yours is full of surprises. Out of the blue she decided to buckle down, take control of her life and plan her future. I'm glad she did because she is so talented. Her potential was going to waste."

"You and Sean made that possible. Look at this place!"

"Maxie had to face some truths and decide. That's hard," said Tiffany. "She's a lot like a Frisco. Once her mind is made up, it's full steam ahead. I was going to give this to her at half price but she wouldn't hear of it. She did take a twenty-five percent discount."

"So you arranged her working here for commission?"

Tiffany pointed at Sean. "His idea and it was briiliant. The selling and the presenting brought out something. She has presence, thinks fast on her feet and does everything she can to be prepared."

"Like Frisco." Felicia sighed. "I don't think she'd like knowing how like him she is. She may accept me but Frisco … I don't know if that breach can ever be healed."

"Baby steps, Felicia. If they meet each other halfway, that's a good start."

"Frisco is tied up in knots about it. I know he is whatever he says otherwise."

Sean stirred from his mental gymnastics. "When is Frisco leaving the Bureau?"

"He's already told Connie. He's wrapping up his last case. I give it a few weeks."

"Then he'll be here? Full time?"

Felicia nodded. "That's the plan. Starting over is scary but we don't have a choice. I don't know what we'll be doing. Robert doesn't want Frisco working for Trident Security just yet. It would put too much unwanted attention on Trident and that's not what we want or need. It could raise red flags at the WSB end."

"It should be obvious where Frisco's … loyalties are by now."

"He's never really hidden our relationship to you and Robert and Anna. But we haven't pushed it in other people's faces either," said Felicia. "Few outside of the veterans know at all."

"The best secrets are those that people forget about," mused Sean.

"He's been in the service for decades and it's time to retire. No one will see that as strange. No waves, no red flags," said Felicia. "No more looking over our shoulder every other minute. We can concentrate on Maxie. She's the priority."

"We're here for whatever you need, you hear?" said Tiffany.

"I've always assumed that the WSB knew about Trident, princess. They don't?" asked Sean.

"Officially, they know it's Robert's firm and they know the client list."

"And unofficially?"

"They don't know Robert's other activities. All these years, we've done everything we could to stay under the radar. It's been costly in time and money but we're there."

Sean seemed puzzled. "But Trident's activities - the security side, the investment group - all that is public knowledge."

"That was the idea," said Felicia. "To the outside world, Trident is what it is - a legitimate business with legitimate clients. A true cover is the best cover. Isn't that one of your rules, oh mastermind of spies?"

"Uh, yeah, it is … was," admitted Sean.

"Well, Robert and Andre took it a few steps further."

"A cover for a cover for another cover?"

Felicia nodded. "Even Frisco and I don't know what THOSE activities are but we know they're going on."

"Those activities?"

"YOU don't know?"

"Ah, well, I know about Andrew and Guardian and the operations against the Foundation, the Cassadines-" began Sean.

"Which is what we know," confirmed Felicia. "If they haven't told you, then that means whatever they ARE doing can't be that … that important or complex. Frisco and I stopped analyzing things too much where Robert's plans are concerned. He said it was safer that we knew only what we knew. He was right. We've been able to live a life close to normal together and now we've made it back home. I can't help thinking that's what Robert wanted all along. He's gotten as devious as you."

Sean chuckled. "Wonder when that started?"

"A long, long time ago. If I'm reading the signs right, Anna's getting there, too."

"Anna? She's always had natural cunning," said Sean. "You think she's all in with Robert's plans?"

"She has to be with that no secrets pact they have," said Felicia. "I'm just glad someone is watching his back."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's a feeling I have. A man, especially someone like Robert, has to have a good reason to follow a plan for years and years," said Felicia. "When he and Andrew moved to Paris, he was different. Even Frisco noticed."

"Different in what way?" asked Tiffany.

"Serious, even grim, most times. He had that single-minded look that someone has when they're on a mission. He was still the same Robert but he was more driven, more disciplined and secretive. He had no female relationships that I know of and that's not like him. He accelerated a lot of things, too."

"Like what?"

"Setting up the network in Parador and legitimizing the security firm."

"I thought he was working for the World Health Organization," said Tiffany.

"He was. Frisco's convinced it was a cover for a cover."

"You're describing a wholly different man, Felicia. Robert could never keep a cover identity going for very long. His personality and traits were too strong to be completely submerged under an alien persona," said Sean. "Anna was the best at it that I've ever seen then and since. She was … she could be another person entirely. She could keep it up as long as she had to."

"That was in the past. People change," insisted Felicia.

"True, very true," conceded Sean. "He had that time in prison on assignment then years in black operations. That would change any man."

"Robert didn't change after that. Not really."

"He had … has post traumatic stress disorder. Anna told me so," said Sean. "It went untreated for years and that's probably what you picked up on."

"I know PSTD. I got Frisco through it. It doesn't change you permanently, not deep down," said Felicia. "I know Robert's changed even if no one else sees it. We can agree to disagree."

"For the record, I disagree," said Sean. "Robert has had a lot on his plate. In his place, I would be crazy by now." His cell phone began to ring. He consulted the display. It said Chase. "I have to return this call. It's the office." He gave Felicia a hug and kiss. "I am really happy you're back, Princess. Everything will work out. You'll see." He kissed Tiffany more passionately than she expected. "Honey, I'll call you later about dinner plans."

"Um, sure. I'll be around here most of the day." Tiffany walked him to the door. As she walked back to the couch she said, "Felicia, I agree with you except for one thing."

"What's that?"

"It's not just Robert. It's Anna and Sean, too."

Felicia smiled. "You think they're up to something and covering up?"

"Yeah. My radar is picking up something," said Tiffany. "It's the three musketeers all over again."

"We're going to wait them out?"

"We'll find out eventually," said Tiffany. "I can't say what it is that's bothering me but it's not enough to drive me crazy … yet."

"I'm glad it's not just me," said Felicia. "Is Neumann's still at the same place?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm going to stock up Maxie's fridge and pantry. Does she eat out every night? There's nothing here."

Tiffany laughed. "Our generation cooked. This generation calls for takeout. C'mon, I'll go downstairs with you."