Chapter 42 The Spencers and the Scorpios are laughing and drinking cider in Mac's living room. Lulu is playing dress-up, having enlisted the help of Robin putting on outrageous makeup on her dainty face. It's around 8:30 when Robert stands and stretches, and holds out his hand to Anna. Robert: Well girls and boys, you'll forgive me if I want to take my wife upstairs. (He looks over to the sofa where Mac, Luke and Lucky are fighting over whose nightclub is better.) She's a mite easier on the eyes, if you know what I mean. Anna, as if in an out-of-body experience, senses the smile she puts on and the eagerness with which she takes Robert's hand, but has a hard time feeling like she's really there. She follows Robert upstairs with a bizarre and unexpected feeling. Is it... dread? With horror, she recognizes that, whatever she's feeling, it's not altogether pleasant. With an odd coupling of both exhilaration and shame, she wonders if this will be the moment of truth where Robert claims her back to his heart, and his bed. The past few nights, they have all fallen asleep together, downstairs on various couches, with Robin. But tonight is to be different, she can see the change in his eyes. They shuffle about the room, getting undressed, and turning down the blankets, Anna going through the motions with a cheery face. And as she looks at him, unbelieving that she is really in the same room with him, she truly wants to hold him forever. So why does it feel so wrong? Robert: I'm not going to force myself on you Anna. So you can lose that stark terror in your eyes. Anna: (appalled that she was so transparent) Don't be silly, darling. I was just worried that I don't have that spring chicken body you might be used to. Robert: (touched by her attempt to lie) Believe me, you don't want to know what I'm used to. Regardless, I know that you're not ready for this. I just wanted to get you alone so we could talk. (he looks at her as she piddles distractedly, brushing her hair, arranging her makeup on the dresser...) My God, what has he done to you? Anna: (too quick to respond) He hasn't done anything to me! He's been a gentleman, I promise. Robert: (closing his eyes painfully) I was talking about Faison. Not Cassadine. Anna: (embarrassed) Oh, of course. Roberts fears are confirmed. She is not anxious about being with him, not because of trauma induced by Faison (not that he wishes that for her), but because her mind clearly is consumed by Mikkos' seedy youngest son. Luke had warned him, in a private moment shared over the hot dog grill, that the man had been seen on more than one occasion with Anna. And from what he overheard her say in the cemetery, the rumors are all true. He takes a seat in the recliner next to the bed and motions for her to sit there facing him. Robert: Maybe it's time we got this all out in the open. Anna: What is that? Robert: We can't go on pretending that I don't know about you and Cassadine. You practically told me so yourself that you love the guy. Anna: (panicked) Practically is the key word there, Robert. I was talking to your grave. Your *grave*. The implication being (she leans over and pats his hand teasingly, trying to lighten the mood), that you were dead. Everything I said was dependent on that error. Now that you're here, there's nothing to talk about. (she pulls his hand to her lips and kisses the inside of his palm) You're alive. I'm alive. We've got years to make up for. (She pushes aside the uninvited thought of what Stefan is doing tonight. Surely he knows by now, after Nikolas' visit yesterday. Is he hurting? Does he hate her?) Robert: (smiling and cupping her face) Music to my ears, doll. Music to my ears. A bald-faced lie, but the effort is nonetheless appreciated. Anna: (taken aback by the accusation) Robert, why don't we just let these irrelevant issues rest for tonight and just enjoy each other? Robert: Because they're hardly irrelevant, precious. You can't be alone with me without worrying about him. Anna: That's not true! (she slides off the bed and kneels on the floor in front of his chair, grasping his hands tightly) Nobody else matters to me, Robert. Don't you know how I dreamt of this moment all those ungodly years? Robert: (sighing at her denial, but wanting to believe her so badly that he's willing to let it go) So did I. Course, for some reason, I never pictured it in my weasel of a brother's guest room, but hey, you gotta roll with the punches. Anna: (smiling) You know, he's taken very good care of our little girl. Robert: You call all these seedy characters she's been dating her entire adolescence taking good care of her? (Teasing, but a bit sad and serious too) One gave her HIV, one got her shot at in this house, and the current one is a Cassadine. Anna: The current one is also Laura's first-born. He's a perfect gentleman! Robert: Just like his uncle, right? Anna: (defeated by the underhanded jibe) That's not fair. How I feel about Nikolas and Robin has nothing to do with Stefan. Robert: I know. Sorry. (awkward silence ensues) This is gonna be difficult, isn't it? Anna: (sliding her arms around his neck in a tight embrace) We've been through worse. They climb into bed and hold each other a while, talking about Robin, her excursions to Yale, Paris, which one of them she takes after the most. They make fun of Mac trying to be police commissioner... The conversation stays light and they skirt the topic that they both know is impossible. Eventually, they let go of each other, turn the light off and fall asleep back-to-back, each lost in their own pain... This is not how it was supposed to be. ***************************** The next morning, at Wyndemere... Alexis comes downstairs, not having stayed at Ned's since Stefan heard the news. The door to the parlor is shut. That's odd, she says to herself, hoping it's not what she thinks. But when she opens it, there he is, holding a cognac, in a bathrobe and silk pajama bottoms, staring at the fire. She sighs sadly, and knocks on the door she just opened, to get his attention. Alexis: Don't you think it's a little early for cognac? Unless that Russian tea that you insist on at breakfast is starting to look even worse, if that were possible. He says nothing, not acknowledging that she walked in the room. Alexis: Well, you'll be unsurprised to know that Nikolas got all A's in the classes he took last quarter at the university. His grades came today. (she stops, and looks at him, and takes another approach) Stefan, you're going to have to look at me. Stefan slowly turns and meets her eyes, his ablaze with some combination of angry, cold, and kicked-puppy. Alexis makes those fidgety half-smiles with her mouth that she always makes when she's nervous. She sits down across from him on the sofa. Alexis: I know that this is impossible for you. And unfair. Nothing about it is fair. You deserve happiness. You do. And you will have it. (she pauses a moment) You know what? We should go to Greece. A long, sunny vacation. What do you say? Her words spill out fruitlessly, unable to sound more wrong... He looks at her with a smile in his eyes that is bitterly sardonic, and then slowly turns back toward the fire. She decides to pull out her last weapon. Alexis: Dammit, Stefan, you're upsetting Nikolas! You have to stop this. Please-- Stefan: (cutting her off) Get out. Alexis: Stefan-- Stefan: Don't make me ask you twice. He doesn't look at her, just orders her away with an icy voice and a face like granite. She recognizes the futility of persisting and closes the door behind her, leaning back against her hands on the doorknob and closing her eyes. Nikolas comes down the stairs and suspects the worst. Nik: He didn't stay up all night. Alexis: I don't know. Nik: And now he's pulling his Helen Keller act. Alexis: Bingo. She walks heavily from the door and slumps into a nearby chair. Alexis: It's just so... unjust. The women he loves... First, Laura, now this. Nik: (listening sympathetically, but he jumps when she says his mother's name. Confused, he repeats) Laura? Alexis: (eyes widening at her blunder) I meant... Nik: No, I know what you meant. What does she have to do with Uncle's love life? Alexis: Nothing, Nikolas, I was speaking generally. Nik: (slowly the lightbulb pops on in his head) Are you implying that Uncle loved her? Alexis: Admired her. She was your mother. Not convinced, he looks at her with suspicion. She hurries to refocus his thoughts. Alexis: The point is that he's hurting now. We need to be there for him. I'm going to instruct the staff to stay out of the parlor. Why don't you say goodbye to him before you rush out of here for the day? Nikolas nods acquiescently, and walks away from her, toward the parlor doors. But the seed is planted. Chapter 43 Robert and Anna walk hand in hand around the frozen park. They have been playing husband and wife for a few days now and are still trying to relearn old habits. The lurid tales from each of their experiences are slowly coming forth, in bits and pieces. While Anna was held against her will, the accommodations themselves were not altogether uncomfortable, and it is clear that it is Robert who has suffered the most physically torturous ordeal. Their fingers dally together as they walk from clearing to clearing, happily avoiding notice by joggers and passers-by in the park. They come to a gazebo, and they sit and rest a while, as Robert has been only slowly regaining his strength after six years of malnourishment and muscular atrophy. They sit very closely together, Anna's hand through his arm, and stare at the barren winter around them. Robert: I assume that Faison didn't appreciate your wedding band. Anna: (holding out her left hand, unadorned beneath a leather glove, and laughing) Needless to say. Robert digs out a small box from his coat pocket and hands it to her. She takes it reluctantly and closes her eyes. Robert: The third time I've had to put one on your finger. But the ritual has yet to get old. Go figure. (noticing her hesitance) Go ahead, open it. Anna: (she opens the box and stares sadly at the dainty gold band) It's lovely. Robert: Read the inscription. Anna: (holding it up to get the light to bounce off the gold the right way) Third time's a charm? Wise-ass. Robert: (smirking) I know. (with fake annoyance) Don't lose this one, alright? Anna puts the ring back, closes the box and chuckles. Robert's forehead wrinkles a bit at the fact that she doesn't put it on right away. Robert: What? Anna: Nothing. (sighing) It's not you. It's just going to be hard for me. I've been alone, without you, for a very long time. Robert: I know. And if I could take away that time from you, I would. Anna: But, I suppose I'm an eternal optimist and insist on finding something good about every situation. And the good in all this... what has happened to us... is that I learned that I could be strong again. I was strong for so long after... our first marriage. I had Robin and I was all she had. But then, there was Duke, and the mob, and Sean and Frisco and you were always hovering, looking after me. And then Duke died, and we were married again. Don't you see, I became more dependent than I should have been. And all this with Faison has reminded me that I am strong. Though I never would have chosen this for my life, there has been a silver lining. I'm finally someone I really like. From double agent, to art thief, to mafia wife, at last, I feel like I'm respectable. And now I am not only strong, but I am free. Robert: (not believing his ears) Are you saying that I keep you from being free? That I'm like Faison? Anna: No, Robert, don't be melodramatic. I'm just saying that it's very hard to go back to a life which, as much as it ripped me apart to do it, I had moved on from. A wound may heal, but hair never grows back over the scar tissue. You can't go back to the way everything was, all rosy and time-warped. Robert: Do you think that's what I want? Do you think I'm the same man you were married to? Look at me. (he takes her face in his hands) Look at me, Anna. I'm a shadow of who I was. I'm a ghost. I couldn't go back if I chose to. And God knows I'd like to. Anna: That's where we differ. It's not that I don't love you. It's that I can't be the person I was. I wouldn't even recognize that woman anymore. And if you are so unhappy the way you are now, then you're not ready to start playing house again either. You need to be free, and heal, and figure out who it is that lives inside you now. Because you may not have chosen him, but he will grow on you. And you have to learn to appreciate the lessons he's learned, and what he has to offer the world. It will never be the same, Robert. It's not fair, and it's not anyone's fault but Faison's. Robert is quiet during her speech, as the sound of his future crumbles around him. All those hopes, those desperate expectations of what freedom would be if he ever found it... and she doesn't want him? She doesn't want to be with him? When at last she is silent, he looks at her with both plaintive begging and with anger. Robert: So this is "for better or for worse"? This is "till death do us part"? Anna: Don't. Don't sling accusations. It only makes it more horrible. Robert: You made a promise to me. Anna: I'm not the person who made that promise! (starting to lose control) I can't be your little woman! I've spent most of my adult life belonging to someone, and I won't do it anymore! She gets up and runs from the gazebo, leaving the ring in its box and Robert in his misery on the bench behind her. ****************************************** At Wyndemere Stefan has since gotten over his catatonia, and has been numbly going through the motions of living. He shuffles through some financial papers (thank God for the distraction) on the sofa when Nikolas comes in from the cold. Nik: (tentatively, on eggshells) Hi. Stefan: (smiling, feigning normalcy) Nikolas! How was your ride? Nik: Fine. Took a little longer to warm up, but after that it was fine. Stefan: Good, good. And what are your plans for the evening? Nik: Actually, I was hoping that we could talk. Stefan: (putting his guard up, unwilling to discuss her) Oh? Nik: About my mother. Stefan: (surprised at the relief he feels) Has she done something lately? Did you see her? Nik: No, no. I just wanted to... I don't know, ask you about her. Stefan: (closing his papers and motioning to the spot next to him on the sofa) Well, as you know, Laura is an enigma, but I will give it a valiant effort. Nik: What happened between you? Stefan: (suddenly wary) When? Nik: Whenever. Let's start with the island. When she lived there, and married my father. Stefan: Well, very little, I'm afraid. We hardly spoke. Nik: (not satisfied) What did you feel for her? Stefan: She was your father's wife, Nikolas. What are you insinuating? Nik: I want to know if you loved her. Stefan: Loved--, Nikolas, who has been filling your head with such a preposterous notion? What on earth would make you say such a--- Nik: Just answer the question, Uncle! Stefan: Oh, so now this is to be an interrogation? Well, why didn't you say so? Nik: Why wouldn't I think you're hiding something if you can't answer a simple question? Stefan: (pondering Nikolas' point, he tilts his head to the side, pensively) Alright. In truth, I sometimes felt sorry for your mother, since she wasn't always happy during her time with us. Nik: Uncle, I would expect *that*. Anyone with half a soul would have felt sorry for her. She was a prisoner, just like Robin's parents (Stefan winces internally). I'm asking if you felt something for her besides what humanity would call for. Stefan: Why are you asking this? Why now? Nik: Why are you avoiding the issue? Stefan: Fine then. I cared for her a great deal. She was tormented by your grandmother, and I tried to offset that torment with kindness. Is that acceptable? Nik: What kind of kindness? Stefan: (impatient and flustered) A friendly word here and there, a walk on the beach... are you looking for something in particular? Nik: Was she also tormented by my father? Stefan: Besides being forced to marry him? Nik: Did she look to you for help? Stefan: When she left the island, she asked me to watch after you. I would have done so regardless, of course. Nik: Then why is she afraid of you? Stefan: I hardly think that Laura's actions could be construed as being based on fear. How would she have dared to hurt you the way she did were she the slightest bit fearful of my wrath? Nik: No, uncle, she *is* afraid of you. She tiptoes around you. Stefan: Nikolas, Laura tiptoes around everyone. She's been well-trained in timidity by that brutish husband of hers. Nik: But you promised me, after she faked her death last year, that you would never let her hurt me again. And the next month, she was gone for Switzerland. Stefan: A wise choice. Nik: One that you had everything to do with. Stefan: It hardly kept her gone very long. Nik: But you were able to run her out of town. Stefan: You give me more credit than I deserve. Her propensity for running away from difficulty was responsible for her Swiss excursion. Nik: I want to know what you have on her. Why does she do what you ask? Stefan: She doesn't. Nik: Stop skirting around, Uncle! Stefan: Watch your tone, little man. Nikolas, frustrated and aware that his Uncle is particularly edgy of late, sinks into the couch and sighs angrily. He fumes silently, and fights the little-boy urge to cry. Stefan sits next to him, with his arms folded indignantly. After a moment, when Nikolas is cooled down a bit, he speaks. Nik: (defeatedly) I would just like, for once, to have it all out on the table. I would like for people not to have to watch what they say around me, lest, God forbid, I figure out too much about the past. Poor little Nikolas, he can't handle too much truth, he's only a child. Stefan regards his son, his bones aching with weariness from the past days. Does he have the emotional strength to fight off the latest teen angst from Nikolas? Stefan: I loved her. Nikolas' eyes widen in surprise, not only at what Stefan says, but at the defeat in his eyes. He realizes this may be an optimal time to get answers from his uncle once and for all. Nik: Did she know? Stefan: Yes. Nik: (all the unspoken conversation that hovered in the air whenever Stefan and Laura were together begins to make sense at last) Did she love you back? Stefan: (smiling wryly at the 64 million dollar question) I don't know. Nik: Well, what did she do when you told her? Stefan: It was never something that I told her, per se... Nik: Then how do you know she knew? Stefan: There were other ways of communicating. Nik: Such as? Stefan: The way I treated her. Nik: Did you ever... you know, kiss her, or hold her hand, or anything romantic? Stefan: Are you asking if I made a pass at my brother's wife? Nik: Well, did you? Stefan rises suddenly and walks over to the fire, his arms still crossed, unsure how to proceed. Nik: Did you? Stefan: Yes. (sighing heavily) My disloyalty is a source of great shame to me. Nik: Why? He kidnapped her. Uncle, you've never maligned my father. But you couldn't think that what he did to her was acceptable. Stefan: No. I suppose not. Nik: So then, why would you feel loyalty to him? Stefan: I didn't feel enough to keep my eyes off his wife, now did I? (smiling bitterly) Nik: More than your eyes, may I presume? Stefan: There's no need to be graphic. Nik: Did she kiss you back? Stefan: Why are you asking this now? It's all in the past, irrelevant. Nik: Because I want to understand how she had the power to hurt you. Stefan: Who says she hurt me? (Nikolas is silent. Stefan fumes) Who, Nikolas? Nik: How did she hurt you? How could she have? Did she reject you? Stefan: (enough is enough) This conversation is over. Nikolas stands angrily, the wheels still turning in his head. And then, a revelation. Nik: You would have expected rejection. That couldn't have been it. The woman was a prisoner. Rejection would neither have surprised nor insulted you. It had to be that she didn't. She must have returned your feelings. Stefan: Nikolas! What did I just say? Nik: Did she love you? Did she tell you she loved you? Did she... my God, did she sleep with you? Stefan throws a glass against the fireplace mantle, the glass raining down in front of the fire... But Nikolas is undeterred, unwavering from his rampage... Nik: That's it, isn't it? She slept with you. And she whispered sweet nothings to you so that you would help her get off the island, didn't she? She told you she loved you so she could use you, the way she does to me, didn't she? And then she left and never looked back at either of us and that broke your heart. Stefan: That's ENOUGH. Nik: (almost talking to himself, as he proceeds through the logical sequence of what must have happened) No wonder you hate her. You hate her for what she did to you, not what she did to me. It was never about me this whole time, was it? Stefan: (softly) It was always about you, Nikolas. Nik: Don't lie to me! All this time, you've been excoriating her for abandoning me, when really, you hate her for abandoning you! She let you use her for a night or two, or was it more? (Stefan's face is ashen with horror and nausea) She gives herself to you, and you think she loves you and then she just runs away and leaves you to look after her baby... (and then his knees buckle) Her... baby. Oh God. No... Stefan: (realizing that Nikolas has followed his reasoning to its logical conclusion, he smiles bitterly, his eyes filling with tears that refuse to spill down, his voice ragged) Like I said, Nikolas, it was always about you.   Chapter 44 And so the tale unfolds, as Nikolas listens in stunned silence. The affair with Laura, the pregnancy, the DNA test after Stavros was dead, the defense of his deception... Stefan tells Nikolas that he allowed Stavros to be his father out of honor, out of duty to the family, out of respect for Laura's marriage to Luke (which didn't need an affair with a Cassadine to darken its already dysfunctional timbre), and finally, last but not least, to protect him from Helena's wrath at her preferred line of succession being thwarted. Nikolas listens to it all, but the rage finally erupts. Nik: How dare you decide for me who gets to be my father? That's not something we get to pick and choose for the sake of convenience! Stefan: It had nothing to do with convenience, don't think that. If I thought that claiming you as my son was the best thing for you, I would have done it a thousand times. How could I not want that, Nikolas? Look at you, you're perfect (his voice breaks)... You are the pride of my life. Nik: (struggling to maintain control, but the sobs break up his tirade) It was not your decision to make! How could you let me think my father was a rapist, a murderer, a kidnapper, a maniac? How do you think I felt when I found those things out! That my mother was forced to conceive me? When all along, that was a lie? What makes you think that lie was "the best thing for me?" How could you? Stefan: (his heart breaking) You don't know my mother, Nikolas. You only know the side of her she let you see. She is capable of anything, and she would have been furious. Nik: Who cares? Stefan: She has killed when she's been crossed before! She has killed to protect her precious royal line. Nik: What? I don't believe that. Stefan: (grasping Nikolas' face in his hands fervently) Believe it. He forces Nikolas to sit down, wiping the tears on his face, but the boy angrily pushes his hands away. And so Stefan tells the story of Kristin, and the child, Natasha. The death of a mother, the death of an identity. A new daughter for Viktor, whose life is predicated on a pack of lies. Nikolas is dumbfounded as Alexis' woeful tale is recounted. Stefan: Don't you see, Nikolas? I couldn't risk your life just to prove my own virility. Nikolas is quiet, as tears cover his cheeks, the storm abated momentarily. Nik: (though he is 17, Stefan could swear it's a 4-year old's voice he hears now) Didn't you want me? Stefan melts, as he puts his hands on his son's shoulders. Stefan: You... you are all I've ever wanted. I would sacrifice everything and anything for you. You are why I breathe, Nikolas. But the vulnerability passes. The boy's face hardens and he pushes Stefan away. Nik: I hate you. Nikolas gets up and bolts out of the room. Stefan feels an inexplicable relief, though he knows Nikolas is angry, at having unloaded all the lies at once. And, (could it be?) he can call the boy his son, from now until eternity, he can be a father to him. He can cradle him when he hurts, the way he always has, only now, it will be as his father, not the stand-in. And though Nikolas will be cold and distant for quite a while, for the first time, Stefan feels like a man instead of a coward. But as usual, the gears start churning in overtime in Stefan's brain, and he wonders if Nikolas will ever be able to trust him after such a grandiose lie. Has he done the right thing? Just then, Nikolas comes barreling down the stairs and bursts in the parlor, looking around impatiently. Stefan: What is it? Nikolas just scowls at him and continues looking. He finds his coat and is about to run out the door. Stefan: Where are you going? Nik: Out. Stefan: Will you be driving? Nik: What do you care? Stefan: You're too upset right now to drive. Take a driver. Nik: I can do whatever I damn well please. Stefan: Nikolas, you've already spent too much time in that accursed hospital, I won't have you in an auto accident! Nik: Oh, now you get to be my father?? I don't think so. Stefan: (standing up in anger) Nikolas! Nik: You gave up your chance. I'm a free agent. I'll do whatever the hell I want, and I'm out of here. A calm, but steady female voice startles them both from the doorway. "That will be quite enough, young man." They both turn, stunned, to face Anna, who looks a wreck, with her hair falling down from it's barrette and her face stained with dried tears. Nikolas is speechless and unmoving. He stares at her, not knowing how to respond. Anna: Sit down, Nikolas. Nikolas wages an internal battle, caught between his anger and urge to flee and his unwillingness to disrespect his girlfriend's mother. His eyes blaze, but he doesn't move. Anna: (with a chin thrust outward) Go ahead, throw out a little back-talk. I dare you. He is sufficiently cowed by her challenge, nervous about the consequences of angering her, and he sits down exasperatedly in a leather armchair. Stefan resists the urge to tell her to stay out of it, for a variety of unrelated reasons, but also because her intervention is proving so effective. Anna: Thank you. Now as soon as you apologize for your rude behavior, you're welcome to have a driver take you wherever you'd like to go. Nikolas' eyes flash, but he prefers to be able to leave this awkward moment rather than prolong it by insolence. Nik: (sullenly) I'm sorry. Anna: (casually) Oh? And why is that? Nik: (resisting the urge to roll his eyes) For being rude. Anna: To whom? Nik: Uncle. I mean... whatever. Anna: Oh yes, an awkward question. Forgive me. You meant to say "to that man who adores me", right? (Nikolas stares at her incredulously, and she smiles at him indulgently) You don't have to answer that. I know when I'm pushing my luck. Go ahead. (Nikolas stands up, grabs his coat, and starts to walk out when Anna grabs his elbow) Come here (she kisses him on his cheek, and he wears the expression of a 6-yr old boy being kissed by his out-of-town great-aunt). When he's finally gone, she chuckles slightly. Anna: So, I gather you finally had that ever-so-needed chat with Nikolas about his paternity? Stefan: (staring at her, unwilling to give her visit the same casual attitude that she is) Why are you here, Anna? Anna: (with a cheerful sarcasm meant to mask her emotional fragility) Oh, you mean, why on earth am I gallivanting over to see my lover when I've got myself a perfectly good long-lost husband just dying to put a ring back on my finger? I've no idea. Thank you for playing. Next question? (her face falls and she feels weak all of a sudden as her eyes fill with tears) Stefan's heart melts and he yearns to go to her, hold her, wipe away her tears. But he knows better. She is another man's wife, and he won't fall prey to that trap again. She begins sobbing in earnest, and steadies herself with her hand on the armrest of the sofa to keep from falling over. Anna: (between gasps) He wants everything the way it was before... I'm supposed to put on a happy face, hallelujah, the love of my life is back, and he'll be Ward and I'll be June, and we'll be the luckiest, the happiest couple to ever grace the planet. She stops wallowing inward for a moment and notices his ashen face. Anna: And, oh God, you. What have I done to you? (she stands up and goes to him, taking his hand and kissing it, cradling it against her bosom, as she gazes up at him through her tears) How can I ask you to endure this? (she strokes his face, lovingly, but urgently, struggling to get any reaction from him) I'm so sorry I didn't call you or visit... I didn't know what I could say. I didn't know what to tell you, because I didn't know what to feel myself. I'm so sorry this has happened. I mean... (she pulls his hand to her lips and opens his hand to cup her cheek, closing her eyes tightly) I'm not sorry it's happened, I'm not sorry that Robert is alive and back. But I'm so sorry that you are caught in the middle... He pulls his hand away and regards her with an impossible coldness. He is, after all, the master of suppressed emotions. Stefan: I'm not caught in the middle, Mrs. Scorpio, because there *is* no middle. Your husband is alive, and you belong with him. (the words blurt out of his mouth from some nether land of glaciers that he reserves in his heart for gut-wrenching conversations, which have, of course, until this point, only been with Laura) Though his words should offer her comfort, should indicate that he understands the position she's in and is not going to make demands on or claims to her, they are, surprisingly, not at all what she wants to hear. Anna: You *are* hurt. You've shut down. Stefan: Nonsense, Mrs. Scorpio. Anna: Stop calling me that. Why can't you be honest with me? Stefan: I'm not being dishonest. I clearly understand my role, one that I'm experienced at playing. A temporary comfort. But the man you're truly devoted to is back, and you must be with him. (wickedly and sarcastically condescending) It's not your fault, but circumstances are out of your control. Anna: (angrily shoving at his chest, as if to snap him out of this mantra he's chanting) Look at me. (His face is stone) LOOK at me, Stefan Cassadine. (she holds his chin in her right hand and forces him to look at her with condescending and falsely casual eyes) I am NOT Laura Spencer. Finally, his eyes seem to register some response. Anna: And you are not that lonely 20-yr old half-man/half-child controlled by a desperate need for your family's approval. You can look at me and tell me the truth. You can tell me what you need. Stefan: (coldly) Alright. I need you to walk out of here and don't look back. Walk out of here with your tears and your apologies and don't try to keep all your plates spinning. Did you honestly come here for sympathy? Did you want me to hold you and stroke your hair and tell you that I understand how you have to break my heart? Something inside of Anna snaps and she gives up the effort. Anna: Very well, then, I'm not going to stay around here while you mistake me for another woman. It's rather insulting. So, dear Master Thespian, if you want to throw a pity party for yourself, you'll have to accept my regrets. I'm exhausted, and I'm going to bed. She starts to unbutton her blouse and turns to walk up the stairs toward his bedroom. Stefan: (dumbstruck at her audacity) You needn't bother manipulating me when I know you'd rather be in another man's bed. I won't be your consolation prize. Anna: (turning back to face him, her blouse unbuttoned, revealing the black lace beneath) You think I'm here out of pity? (he doesn't respond) You think I'd make love to you selflessly? No chance. (She walks over to him, he feigns nonchalance) You're the most incredible lover I've ever had. I would spend every minute in bed with you if I could. However, I won't share the covers with another woman. (she turns on her heel and starts back up the stairs) Come on up when you're interested in me and me alone. Stefan: (angrily) How did this turn into *my* divided loyalty? I won't share either, Anna. I won't share your affections with Robert Scorpio. Anna: (from the first landing on the stairs) I love Robert. Adore him. Cherish him and our past together. Share a child with him. Thrilled he's alive. But you're the one I'm in love with. You're the one who knows and loves the woman that I am now. You're the one today, tomorrow, and every day after that. You think I'm using you? You're damn right. I'm using your body, because it's... well, that's obvious. I'm using your heart, because it moves me. I'm using your mind, because it challenges me. I'm using your love, because it heals me. I'm using you, because you complete me. (Stefan has moved to the bottom of the stairs during her speech and is looking up at her) Now, you want to sit there like a pansy and wallow in the insecurities of your past, you go right ahead. I'll be waiting. I'll wait forever. I'm not going back to him, after I've used you a little while. It rips the beating heart out of my chest, but I'm not going back to him. I've had a hell of a week, and it's time for me to move on. She spins on her heels and starts up the rest of the stairwell. Stefan: Anna. She turns back to look at him. He stares at her with intense eyes that are ablaze, despite the hint of tears. Stefan: Come here. She walks down each step, slowly moving toward him. When she is 2 steps above him, he reaches out for her, but she quickly sidesteps his grasp. He looks confused. Anna: You want me? Stefan: (whispering) How could you think otherwise? Anna: Because you still haven't said it. You've been slapped on the hands so many times, you've stopped reaching for the cookies. Stefan: (smiling, at long last) And exactly what are "the cookies"? Anna: (smiling seductively) What you reach for tends to vary with your mood, doesn't it? Why don't you surprise me tonight? (he again reaches for her waist and she again slithers away) Ah ah ah, not until you say it. Stefan: Say what? Anna: What you want. Stefan: (breathily) You. (He grabs the open flaps of her blouse and pulls her down a step and into his chest) I want you. I need you. (He bends down and lifts her off her feet) I love you, Anna Devane. Anna: (smiling and wrapping her arms around his neck as he carries her up the stairs to his bed) Oh really? Prove it. Stefan: (laughing heartily) I intend to.