At long last… the continuation of Endgame is here! If you missed Chapter 1, look for the previous post: It’s Always Midnight Somewhere. I’m also posting this story on FanFiction.net for those who may be interested. Enjoy!

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9444623/1/Endgame

ENDGAME

Chapter 2

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

“How is he? Have there been any other visitors or… anything since we spoke?” Anna asked as Doctor Birchmeier escorted her down the hall to Robert’s room.

“Mr. Scorpio is still resting comfortably, Madame Devane. There have been no other… incidents.”

“Good.”

“Here we are,” the doctor said, motioning toward the door.

“Hello, I’m Anna Devane,” she said to the tall, dark haired man at the door. “I’m the one who called you.” She showed him her credentials.

“Yes, of course. No need, Ms. Devane. I’m familiar with your credentials. You are a bit of a legend in-”

“Thank you.” She cut him off with a serious smile. “What did you find? Anything?”

“No Ma’am. The room is clean. No signs of foul play.”

“And you swept for bugs?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you. If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to see him now.”

“Will there be anything else, Ms. Devane?” the agent asked.

“No. Thank you for your time. I’ll be in touch if anything else should come up.”

“Would you like us to keep a man posted here just in case?”

“No. I’ll take it from here.” With a nod, she slipped past him and into Robert’s room. The sight of him propped up in bed stopped her tracks. He looked exactly the same as the last time she’d seen him. Still motionless and unexpressive. No change, except for a bit more stubble on his face. She took a deep breath and approached him, eyes glistening with the threat of tears. She perched cautiously on the edge of his bed and tentatively reached for his hand. She gave it a light squeeze and half expected him to squeeze back. He didn’t.

“Hello Robert,” she said softly.

She couldn’t help but think how much he would hate the fact that she was seeing him like this- again. He would hate lying there helpless while she ran to his rescue, though she still had no idea what she might be rescuing him from. He much preferred to be the hero. Lord knows he’d saved her a time or two, not that she liked it any more than he did. Playing the damsel in distress was not her favorite act.

“You could use a shave,” she said, gently touching his cheek and then pulling her hand away as if she’d done something she shouldn’t have. She shook her head with a weak smile. “Well, don’t think that you can make me feel sorry for you just by lying around here looking pathetic. It won’t work, Scorpio. I’ve spent enough time crying over you in hospitals already. I’m only here as back up. Until you get up on your feet again. Do you hear me?” She wiped away an escaped tear with the back of her hand. “And I’d have sent someone else,” she lied. “But as it turns out, all of our friends are otherwise engaged. Luke has run off to look for Jerry Jacks, as ridiculous as that may sound, and Mac – let’s just say Maxie and Felicia are keeping him busy with wedding plans. And now that Maxie is pregnant, she’s even more intense than usual.” Anna let out a small chuckle. “Holly is out and about at the moment, so it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

She shook her head and took his hand again.

“I’m not fooling you, am I? You know I’d do anything for you if I thought you were in danger. The same as you’d do – the same as you did- for me.” She sighed, thinking he would even be lying there if he and McBain hadn’t come to Switzerland to save her from the likes of Cesar Faison. She wiped away another tear and went on. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here the whole time, really. Holly was happy to stay I’d guess, but… I shouldn’t have left you. Except then there was Duke and my job. Oh God, the job! Robert, how on earth did you do it so well for so many years and make it look so easy. Left to my own devices, I could nail anyone, but as commissioner, with the mayor constantly looking over my shoulder and the bureaucratic red tape, it’s ridiculous. Then of course there is the possibility that I have just plain lost it.” Anna stood started to pace. “I mean, here I am with these two clues, and I have no idea what to make of them. No leads whatsoever. I was really hoping that Interpol would turn up something. Who am I looking for Robert? Faison’s in prison, I hope. Helena Cassadine is supposedly dead. They’re the obvious ones. But there are hundreds of others we’ve crossed that would love see us both dead. Am I over-reacting? Am I, Robert? I don’t think so, but… Ugh!” She ran her hands through her hair and looked up at the ceiling.

After pacing a while longer, she walked back to his bedside and picked up the only personal effect on the bedside table: a framed photograph of Robin. Holly must have brought it for him. That was nice of her, Anna thought. Holly had her issues, but didn’t they all. And she did genuinely seem to care about Robert. Though Anna couldn’t help but wonder where Holly was at the moment. She’d gone MIA and wasn’t answering her cell. Anna held the picture of their daughter tightly to her chest and sat back down next to Robert, but this time she sat back on the bed alongside him with her head on the pillow next to him.

“Duke keeps telling me I just need to trust myself, you know? He loves me, and he means well. I know that, but, he can’t understand. It’s not his fault. He just can’t understand the way I feel. Losing Robin, thinking she might still be alive, trying to find her, only to find out my every instinct was wrong… She’s really gone, Robert. I feel like my whole world crumbled around me and I have no idea how to put it back together again. All I have left is emptiness. And regret. For all of the years I spent away from her. All of the time we lost because of the choices we made. Duke, he can’t understand it. Not the way you can. Nobody knows what I’m feeling the way you do. You’ve always known me better than anyone else. Sometimes better than knew myself.”

She reached down and wove her fingers through his, still clutching Robin’s picture with the other hand. She turned onto her side so that her entire body leaned against him and rested her head on his.

“Don’t you see, Robert? All of the stupid fights, all of tears, all of the times you’ve made me crazy… they don’t matter. I need you in my life, okay? I admit it.” Her voice was thick with emotion. “I need you, Robert Scorpio. I need you to wake up. Can you just do that? Please? Can you just… wake up? For me? Because… I really don’t know what to do without you.” Then, she finally let the tears go and cried on his shoulder like she had so many times before.

Exhausted and overwrought, she was lulled to sleep by the consistent rise and fall of his gentle breaths. It wasn’t a deep sleep, but it was better than nothing.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep when she was jolted awake by a sudden movement. She sat up and looked at him. He was breathing rapidly and his lips were parted.

“Robert, are you all right?” she said, concerned that something was wrong. “I’m going to get a doctor,” she told him, as if he could understand her. She put the picture back on the table and made a move to stand up, but when she tried to pull her hand free from his she couldn’t. He was gripping it too tightly. “Oh my God, Robert! She squeezed his hand and he actually squeezed back. “I don’t believe it! Robert, honey, can you hear me?”

He took several deeper breaths. His lips moved as if he were trying to speak and finally a sound came out. “Anna.”

“I’m here, Robert. I’m here.”

“Anna.”

“Yes, love. It’s me.” She climbed back onto the bed and knelt over him. She pulled her hand from his grip and took his face in her hands. “Oh, God, please wake up Robert. Open your eyes!”

“Anna,” he said one more time. His eyes were still closed, but a smile crept across his lips.

“Robert!”

Then, finally he blinked. Once. Twice. And then slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at her. She was beaming at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Oh thank God!” she cried pulling him into her embrace, still practically sitting astride him. “I was beginning to worry that you’d never wake up.”

He chuckled weakly. “If… I… had known… this was what I had to look forward to… I would have come around sooner.” He smiled, moving his hands onto her hips.

“Oh,” she smiled back, suddenly a bit embarrassed. “Sorry. I’m just so happy to see you.”

“And I thought it was… a gun in your pocket.” He tugged gently at her hip holster.

She couldn’t help but laugh as she wiped the tears from her face. “Same old Scorpio.”

“Who are you calling old?” he asked groggily.

“How do you feel?” She changed the subject. “I should get Dr. Birchmeier to examine you.”

“Who? Anna… Where are we, love? How did we get here?”

“We’re in Switzerland. At the clinic. You’ve been-”

“The clinic…” His face took on a perplexed expression that within seconds changed to alarm. “Robin… Robin,” muttered. “Where is Robin?”

“Robert…”

“Anna, where is Robin? Did you find her?”

“Sweetheart, what are you talking about?” she asked, frightened by the look on his face.

“Robin,” he said again. And then, almost as quickly as he’d come around, he drifted off again, leaving Anna staring at him, open mouthed, confused, and even more anxious than she had been when she arrived.