A/N: I've been working every day to get this out and it finally happened! I moved recently and that was the reason for the delay. So sorry, guys! Anyway, thank you to Gb67 (hopefully, this chapter will answer some of your questions! I LOVE the interaction between Anna and Faison for the creep-factor alone. I can't think of another dynamic on GH that was ever quite like it!), 4gcrazyme (Thank you, thank you!), Bostie (I'm sorry I took so long to get this one out, it was killing me! Haha. We are getting a break from Kate this chapter, but not Faison! And yes, the wardrobe thing definitely deserved a mention, and Robert continues to go on about it in this chapter lol!), and wicked jade (Faison has a very important convo this chapter, curious as to what you will think. He is definitely "less pathetic" in this story, as things have changed! Thank you!). Hope everyone enjoys!

Chapter 28:

Sean knew very well that Ross would find him the moment he was informed that Sean had stepped into the building. Arrive, he did. Flanked by an agent.

"Donely. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Looking for maintenance help on the old computer." Sean gave him a friendly smile. "Nothing that would require your personal attention, Ross. But I'm glad you came to see me all the same…"

"I'd actually been meaning to check in with you." Ross took the invitation, swiping his nose with a finger before pointing over to the hall filled with conference rooms. "Could we go in there a moment?"

"Of course," Sean agreed. The agent with Ross did not follow them in, and the door shut. "What's on your mind?"

The current WSB Director appeared wary of Sean's smile, but if Sean had been even a little less observant, he wouldn't have ever noticed. He stared at the former boss a moment, and then he sighed.

"Okay, Donely, why don't we just put our cards on the table? Scorpio's visit a few weeks ago did pique my interest, and I—"

"You went into Anna Devane's sealed file." Sean was already nodding, making a show to sound indifferent. "Did it change your mind about anything?"

Ross looked almost surprised at Sean's willingness to discuss it, he blinked and paused. "About Cesar Faison? No. Despite Robert Scorpio's insistence, there is still zero evidence that the man is alive."

Donely raised an eyebrow. "I think you know that those who climb so high in the DVX are a little more than capable of faking a death than that… don't you have agents still on that could possibly identify him? Hawkins? Luccio?"

"I'm sure you are aware that any agent who took on the case is either dead or long-since retired, Sean. That was during your time."

Sean shrugged, hiding the way his shoulders relaxed at that passive bit of information. "Just checking. It may have put your mind at ease."

"So then, you want me to believe this story too? Is that why you came all this way?"

Sean shook his head. "It may shock you, but I was telling you the truth. The computer is on the fritz and I need to consult with someone here about it. If you don't believe Scorpio, I can understand that, even with his long and loyal history with the Bureau…"

"How loyal though, Donely?" Ross questioned. "Their sealed files were …eye-opening."

Sean rolled his eyes at the man. "C'mon Ross, you've been Director long enough to have been around the block. It's not nothing, but it's close to it. Overly-invested partners get in over their heads? A cliché."

Ross didn't smile. "The best don't typically fall into that cliché, now do they? Sean. I've also been around the block enough times to know that that's not the full story. Not even in the sealed files."

Sean sighed. "Devane and Scorpio are no longer agents, Ross. You've already told me and Scorpio that you don't believe his claims about Cesar Faison. What is the point of this interrogation? What is even the point of accessing their files at all? The man thought he was giving you a lead!"

"For whose benefit, Donely? The Bureau's? The world's? Or Anna Devane's?" The Director did smile then, but it twisted with something like regret. "You might be surprised to know this, but I am not trying to castigate Robert Scorpio. Robert was the epitome of sterling agent when I started here. And by most measures, he still is… But Robert was the one who requested our involvement and I can't give it to him."

"But you'll stay out of this?" Sean asked frankly. "I know the score, Ross. I understand your reasoning. But Scorpio is a dear friend, and I'm not a fan of the pile-on. If somebody requests comment from the Bureau, I'm going to ask that you stay silent. As a favor. I'm not trying to dictate what you do."

Ross nodded slowly, after a long pause. It appeared he had been bracing himself for a plea from a former Director for an intercession, and Sean had expected such. Asking for less was a pleasant surprise in comparison. "I think that's fair… but Sean, this whole mess needs to stay contained. To Port Charles. A three-ring circus, and the Bureau might have no choice but to intervene, and I can't say that it will be in your favor."

Handle this quietly. Ross might have been more astute than Sean had ever given him credit for. They shook hands, and Sean headed to IT. Part one of the mission was already accomplished, then the real fun would begin.

Sean had been in Washington for two people, making arrangements to meet up ahead of time. Two more would be quite the party, but he needed to count on potential rejections. When it came down to it, who would really sign up for this kind of job?

WSB agents weren't known for their sense of preservation, but Sean wanted to make this as safe and easy as it was likely to get. He already had the names, locked up in his mind in the place he put all of his WSB memories.

He found a pay phone and took the plunge on two more.

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If Robert wasn't pacing, he was seated and his leg was jumping rhythmically. He couldn't seem to stop the desire for movement. He couldn't seem to stop feeling powerless.

In one way, victory had been his. Cesar Faison hadn't dealt the blow that he thought he could with Robert's life work. All those years had meant enough that he was able to preserve his place in the world. In another way, he had to endure the appearance of loss.

He had to endure his gorgeous ex (whom he happened to love) throwing herself at another man, one he deeply despised. He had to endure the pretense of separating himself from her, so everyone would believe a lie.

He also had to wonder if he was the fool in all of this.

One look from her, and all doubt left his mind. It was when she was away that these thoughts intruded.

He recalled once-upon-a-time, when what consumed him was the want …for her to give herself to him. But she had given herself to him once before, and while it hadn't been a lie, it had been a truth that destroyed them both. He wasn't sure if he had the endurance for another blow like that.

Having given herself to him again, he knew that he wouldn't have her take it back for anything.

Not for all of their secrets exposed. Not for the increase in danger. Not for life as usual.

Not for a speck of his peace of mind…

Robert had already reflected on whether it would have bothered him to see her with Faison if they had never been together that night (and any night after). He had come to the conclusion that it still would have driven him crazy. He had already been going crazy, before all of that had exploded.

"Hello…"

Anna had snuck up on him, on the threshold of Sean's computer room. Her hands were clasped behind her back, posture more like the girl he had never known than the woman she was. He wondered if this sheepishness was supposed to help him forget that she was wearing clothing that she intended to seduce Faison with. It didn't.

Her next question, however, briefly brought his head out of his ass. "How did it go at the Department?"

He had entirely forgotten about that whole deal when he saw her. He cleared his throat and strode past her, into the hall, knowing she would follow. "Uh, rather well, actually…"

She predictably trailed after him, picking up speed in her impatience. "Yes?"

"How did you get in here?"

"Tiffany slipped me a key today. Said Sean had given it to her for the purposes of this …mission." Her hand came onto the crook of his elbow, shaking him slightly. "But how did it go?!"

He couldn't help but appreciate that she cared so much, yet he pretended to be exasperated. "You're gonna hear shortly anyway, I'm sure, but …Leave of Absence."

"Yes!" she gasped, as they entered the living room, nearly jumping sideways into him. He smiled as his arms gathered her up instinctively and she laughed. "Oh, I can't believe it!"

"Neither could I," he said as she turned and gave him a proper hug. He grunted at the strength of it and lifted her feet off the ground, easily half-spinning her. "Neither could I."

As he released her, she backed away from him, somehow winded and brushing the hair from her face. "Ugh, that was so much better than I expected..." she exhaled again. "I think I needed to hear that…"

He didn't think she had been winded by her own enthusiasm, so he felt his brow crease warily and noted the hooded look in her dark eyes. "Now, you. What happened over there?"

Sean was out—presumably to enact his plan for Faison, and Tiffany was still at the news station. They were alone. Robert believed if there would be any time to talk freely, now would be good. But Anna's eyes darted away from his and her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Nothing new. I'm still …working on getting him to trust me."

"And how do you do that?"

Those eyes were back on him in a moment and they glinted harshly. "That's my part in this. You need to focus on your own, Robert."

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm out at the Department. I have nothing else to bother with." He spread his hands. "It's a simple question, luv."

"None of this is simple," Anna countered. "You're asking a question. But the answer is not anything you want to hear, or I want to say, but it's what we have to do! Should I make it harder on the both of us by spending our time talking about every minute I spend with that man, or is our time better-spent doing something else?"

She was completely right about it all. Still, his curiosity ran through his veins like poison. He didn't know why he wanted to know. He thought he had made the decision to leave Anna to her business a thousand times, and yet the question kept cropping up! And he wasn't sure what was driving it: that it was Faison, or that it was Anna…

"I think …I need Sean to get back with something for me," Robert confessed dryly. Anna nodded at him, her jaw clenched, but her eyes sympathetic. "I know that you aren't doing anything that …that you don't need to do."

It took such an effort to say it, but it was worth her reaction: the visible weight off her person. Her eyes didn't draw away, for once. There would likely always be that uncertainty of his trust, after how they had begun. He was compelled to reassure her even when it was the last thing he wanted to do, his love for her drove him away from himself.

She didn't say the 'thank you' he saw in her eyes. Instead, she soldiered on with the subject.

"Sean is going to have something soon. I'm sure of it." Anna smiled grimly. "He had that look in his eyes…"

Anna had seen more of that look than Robert had, in the past. Again, a nervous energy overtook Robert at the exchange they had had the last time they met here. He was less-prepared for these types of dealings, and he hoped that he could only react to the situation before he sat and thought about the consequences. There was a fire in his veins and he needed something to do.

"Come here."

Anna looked at him questioningly before obliging him by a step. "What?"

"Closer."

Now, she almost smiled. "For what? Not here…"

He caught what she hid and grinned. "Where else?" he asked. "It's just us."

"This isn't our—it's Sean and Tiffany's house." She blushed slightly at the slip-up and he was charmed at that. It was so easy to forget that she could be shy sometimes, given her usual control.

"I wish I had given you a house. And everything else," he said into her ear. "I wish we had been able to have a life."

He didn't forget that she was wearing clothes to please Faison, but she didn't need to wear them anyway…

"I'm happy you're saying that …I wish you had said that when Sean first told us," she confessed. She had been playing at divesting him of his jacket, but paused then. "And I know that that's selfish of me..."

"If you're selfish, then I'm guilty too," he said to her. He vividly remembered her, wet-eyed and laid against the hospital desk, watching him watching her. "It was what I wanted to say, but I knew if I did …then I couldn't put that away."

Anna nodded and neither had to say anything further. Only they understood what was between them… Her hands fell back onto him, tugging a little.

"We're not gonna screw this up," Robert promised. "I—we're going to do it this time… I won't—I can't have anything else."

"Nor can I," Anna answered with a naked and frustrated downturn of her lips. "Oh, I hate that we can't just—just do this! I wish there had been another way!"

"Nobody hates that more than me."

But honestly, Robert wondered if either of them would have gotten the guts if their past hadn't reared its ugly head again. If the price was putting off telling the world, he was willing to pay it.

She was silent a moment, and then didn't quite look at him as she spoke. "Tiffany said that…"

"What?"

"That she," she licked her lips slightly and Robert traced the motion with his eyes, "drew the guest room up…"

"Ah!" he threw his head back and laughed. Anna punched him in the shoulder, blushing and smiling.

"No, you're awful—we can't!"

"Oh, I assure you that I can!" Robert touched where she hit him dramatically. "I do not care what that woman does or doesn't know. In fact, I think she'd applaud us. Why else would she say that to you?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Of course. But you realize that Sean could be back at any moment?"

"He called me, he was in Washington. Now, are you finished with the excuses? Because I don't want you in that damnable dress anymore."

He was already too close, bent over her, nose brushing hers and she couldn't stop smiling. "Oh, why then?"

"You know why," he growled. He wasted no more time elaborating, and it was only three more kisses before he hoisted her up, and up the stairs, with far too much urgency. Her heart still raced. They were losing their minds. They had to be.

Robert surely was. A loud rip and cool air had Anna's eyes shooting open in to see the damage of a jagged tear right down the left shoulder and halfway down her arm.

"Robert!"

"Sorry," he muttered, not meeting her eyes as he crouched over her.

"You did it on purpose!" she accused, even as she edged up the bed and let her head hit the pillow while he followed on his knees over her like greedy beggar, hovering. "You did, and you're buying me a new one!"

"Gladly," he said without concern, catching the fabric to resume peeling it off of her. "I'll go out of town to do it. I'll go to Paris and buy you lots of dresses that you won't wear for him. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful!" she said angrily, shimmying the rest of the way out of the ruined garment. She allowed his tie to tighten around his neck when she yanked him towards her, before unraveling the knot. "You can do that and you can not destroy any more of my dresses! You hear me?"

"I hear you." He bit her neck. It was foolish, because he could easily leave a mark if he didn't get off. She pressed his head closer as he continued. "Until he's gone. Then I'll burn all the ones he's put his hands on."

"I don't want to hear about him now," she drawled, nails biting into his back hard enough to leave their own traces.

"What do you want?" Robert panted against her ear in a way that left shivers down her spine.

"Right now, this."

She squirmed as one hand dove lower while the other made its home on her breast. "Later? A house, a life. The things we couldn't—" She gasped.

"Talk to me, darling," Robert coaxed, never letting up for a moment. "Tell me."

She couldn't, she was already lost, which had been his intention from the moment she obliged him. Dreams would have to be put off for another time.

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"I expected you to come calling, Donely."

"I'm sure you knew that I'd be stupid to refuse the offer." Sean crossed his arms. "You might have also guessed how the Bureau would react to the idea that Cesar Faison didn't die thirteen years ago."

"Yeah, I might have guessed," Frank nodded ruefully. "I wasn't on the case, but watching Harry …well, I probably saw more inner workings of the Bureau than I ever cared to know."

Sean felt a sudden surge of embarrassment as he looked at the former agent. He had been party to those inner workings. Frank read his hesitation and waved a hand. "You don't need to apologize to me, Director. I may not have agreed with everything back then, but I always knew you looked out for us as well as you could. You didn't throw us into missions like cannon fodder"

"I also need you to know that I'm not the same man that I was back then." Sean didn't acknowledge the graceful response, but tried to do him one better. "I'm married. I have a life outside of the WSB. What about you?"

"Married. Kids nearly grown," Frank answered. "And I know what you want to ask. Am I prepared to risk it all? No, I'm not. But I am prepared to work on this case and sacrifice a lot for it. I've already thought about all of this. Steinfeld had no chance at a life, because of what the DVX did to him. Honoring what he gave up is the least that I can do."

Sean nodded his head. "That's exactly what I was hoping you'd say. Look Frank, I'm not going to play hard-and-fast with the life you've built. You aren't the only former agent that I've contacted, for that reason. We're all professionals. And we're gonna create a team that will take this man down once and for all, no matter what the WSB decides to do."

Frank held out his hand to shake. "That is the beginning of a plan that I can get behind."

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"I appreciate you taking this call on such short notice."

"I asked for the call in the first place. I saw what you're doing in Port Charles, Cesar. A big fish in a little pond? I need you to explain why you're wasting your time."

"You were very much aware of my aims." Faison didn't pause as he brought the cigarillo to his mouth, puffing. "And loath as I am to say it, Robert Scorpio is more than that, pretend as he might to be content in his little pond…"

"This is my concern. You are fixating on what's already passed! Scorpio is—"

"Funny thing it is, how these organizations cling to their legacies, isn't it?" Faison interrupted the other end of the line to silence, cutting with command, even in that low, stilted way he spoke.

"They never really retire their names. Donely. Scorpio. Even my dear, little Anna. And they bring in men like Frisco Jones. And then you tell me that you can't understand what I'm doing? What is it I am doing?"

"You are so sure."

"I am." Faison smiled widely, near to laughter. "Because I see things that so many don't bother to notice. Perhaps it's because I'm dead."

"I don't know about that," the other voice said wryly. "I've known a lot of ghosts with very little sense."

Faison nodded, though it couldn't be seen. "Be that as it may, killing the present, as I've told you, will not accomplish what you will. Or what I do. It's the death of faith."

Smoke swirled neatly around him, Wyndamere was peaceful. "You don't take the men. You take what they stand for. And Robert Scorpio embodies that ideal."

"And that's highly convenient for you."

Faison shrugged. "Anna Devane's taste in men …is what it is. I will hit as many targets as I can with one arrow."

"It doesn't sound as if the woman has much of a 'taste' for him anymore." The voice was scornful. "It sounds like you've done the damage you needed to do."

"You are a fool if you believe that. But that isn't your problem," Faison continued. "What you must be concerned with is as long as Robert continues to love her, he will lose, and we will win …and I've known that since he sentenced an innocent man to die for her."

"So that's true?"

Faison smirked. "Well, what did they tell you at the Bureau?"

"Not that."

"Of course. I doubt the whole, sordid tale is even on file. I'd imagine that only those who were there will ever know. And you can choose to believe me, or not." He pursed his lips. "I find it quite amusing. Scorpio is far too focused on my blind spots to see his own. He doesn't even see that they are the same."

"Is it a blind spot if you are aware of it? Don't answer that." He sighed. "I don't disagree with you, Cesar. But your personal involvement in this situation is not the easiest thing to shrug off."

Faison leaned forward in his chair, his arms resting on the desk. "Then I'll make it plain: we two men …we would killfor Anna Devane. But only he will die for her. And that is the difference. When the WSB loses what Scorpio has idealized—when they see what their fallen hero really is …we will be able to operate as we please. And more importantly …Anna Devane will come in to our plans, our organization, without his influence in her life."

"She may re-think her feelings about him if you do anything to really threaten him. You could make him a martyr."

Faison smirked. "I have done nothing to him. I will continue to do nothing to him. I will only comfort her. I will only show her what those lesser beings don't bother to notice. And I will do it by showing her what those fine gentlemen at the WSB will do when it is convenient for them to turn on their own. And without him …who will she turn to?"

"Just remember, Faison. You are vulnerable to that woman. Never forget that."

"I don't," Faison said mildly. "But you see …she is vulnerable to me as well. And she forgets it all the time."

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Robert had her wrapped up in his arms, in Sean and Tiffany's guest room, their breaths slowing together. Anna was collapsed and curled up on his chest, brushing the wiry hair there and thinking about little, except how utterly content she could feel.

"So, when are you gonna tell Robin?"

The question was meant to irritate her, yet she laughed. Nothing really could make her feel unhappy right now—not even annoyed. "I'm not," she groaned against his pectoral muscle, warm with her exhale and exertion.

He didn't truly mean it anyway. This was pretend—this was if Faison wasn't in the picture and their greatest problem would be how to inform their daughter that her parents had rekindled their relationship.

"I think it sounds better coming from the mother," he whispered against the crown of her head.

"You're a chauvinist."

"I'm a realist."

"We're a team," Anna asserted seriously. "When it comes to our daughter …and everything else."

Everything else. Robert traced her shoulder with his fingers, over and over, but he had fallen into a contemplative silence that drew her in too. He wondered where he would go when he left this room. What he would do when Sean told him the plan. She wondered it too. They wondered how long this moment would last before they had to leave it. Pretending wasn't so easy.

A/N: Oh, a plot! And Robert and Anna get even more time to heat it up, while Sean does all the work. Faison speaking with a mysterious ally. Let me know what you thought!