Title: Small truths, big lies
Author: mikipau
Rating: K
Fandom: The 100
Pairing: Abby/Raven (Doctor Mechanic)
Disclaimer: I do not own the 100.
Summary: Raven needs to come clean with Abby.
A/N: Doctor Mechanic Week. Day 1: Assassins AU. One of these ladies is the worst ever at her job. Seriously.
Raven Reyes was in love. The woman sitting across from her was everything she'd ever wanted in a partner. Abby was intelligent, strong-willed and beautiful. Most importantly she made Raven laugh. They'd only met four days ago, but Raven was sure this was the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. As she saw it there was only one small, maybe not so insignificant, obstacle standing in her way of making this woman her happily ever after; Abby Griffin didn't actually know who Raven was.
Two months ago a woman came into Raven's computer store with a laptop which was damaged beyond repair. Not only was the device nearly cracked in two, but most of the components were fried, meaning the whole thing would have to be replaced.
Raven pointed out that the repairs would be more costly than getting a new computer. She showed the woman which laptops would be good equivalents to the broken one, as well as a few with slightly better specs and compared their prices with the cost of the estimated repairs needed. She also offered to try to save and manually transfer all recoverable data from the old laptop to a new one for free.
The sight of the mangled computer made Raven feel bad for the woman, but that didn't last long. The 45 minutes it took her to enter and exit Raven's life were enough for the computer specialist to develop an extreme dislike for the woman. Simply put, there was no other way to describe this particular customer than by calling her a bitch.
The woman was rude from the moment she stepped through the door. At first Raven thought her actions to be caused by worry for the loss of the computer and the files on the hard drive, but it soon became apparent that this wasn't the case.
She was dissatisfied with everything from the range of laptops on offer to the service she received and she even questioned Raven's competence. The woman's actions made no sense at all. She would say one thing and then the next minute state the absolute opposite. No matter how accommodating Raven was there was no pleasing her.
In the end she left the store with a new laptop of her own choosing. Its specs were way beyond her needs and as a result it was more expensive than what was needed; something that obviously wasn't an issue as she'd repeatedly made a point of how much money she had. Raven's more sensible suggestions were brushed aside as well as her offer to copy the files from the old hard drive to the new machine. The woman left a gnawing aggravation in her wake which Raven tried hard to brush off. She failed.
After closing the store Raven still felt irritated and her shoulders were tense. She knew resting would be out of the question until she released some of the tension, so instead of going home she decided to catch up on some work that had fallen behind because of Wick's recent bout of food poisoning. She grabbed a couple of beers, settled in the small room at the back of the store and started a few diagnostics in preparation for eventual repairs. As she sat waiting for the diagnostics to run her eyes landed on the broken laptop that the woman had left behind. Raven felt her annoyance bubble to the surface and half an hour later she had booked a week at a luxury hotel, all inclusive, in the name of one Diana Sydney.
She told herself it wasn't really identity theft, she was just borrowing. She'd go on this one trip, pretend to be someone else and then never do anything like this again. God knew she needed a break. This led to her now sitting across from Abby Griffin in a nice restaurant, trying to figure out how to come clean about the mess she found herself in.
She didn't want to lose Abby, but knew that was a real possibility if she told the truth. Of course, not telling would definitely end badly. Their relationship would not last when they left this hotel unless Raven came clean. The truth would come out, it always did and for personal as well as legal reasons she couldn't continue to pretend to be Diana. Her only shot, slim as it might be, was to reveal her true identity to Abby. She needed to explain that identity theft was not something she did on a regular basis, in fact this had been a one time only thing and she would never do anything like this again. Ever. She hoped Abby could look past it, that when leaving the hotel she'd want to continue and nurture what had developed between them.
Raven looked across the table. They'd enjoyed a wonderful meal and were now waiting for the deserts to arrive. Abby had been a bit subdued this evening, stating it had to do with work. Raven had offered to listen if Abby needed to talk, but she'd shrugged, choosing instead to enjoy their time together.
Taking a deep breath Raven decided to just go for it.
"Abby, there's something I need to tell you."
Abby's dark eyes met her own, questioning but patient.
"You're not going to like what I have to say." Raven swallowed, reached for the glas in front of her and took a sip of water. "I'm afraid of your reaction and before I tell you the truth I need you to understand that I've never felt what I feel for you for anyone else."
Her eyes fell to the linencloth covering the table between them. She forced herself to meet Abby's eyes again. "Even though it's only been a couple of days. I know I love you and want to continue what we've shared here once we leave this hotel and go back home."
Her words made Abby smile and Raven feared telling the truth. She didn't want to lose this woman.
"Diana? What is it?"
Raven cringed at the name. Abby reached across the table, her warm palm pressing against the back of Raven's hand in a comforting gesture.
"I'm... My... Diana isn't my real name."
"What?" Abby's eyes grew large and round, she pulled her hand back from Raven's, The movement left Raven feeling cold and she wished there was a way for her to fix this, to tell the truth, be forgiven and ride off into the sunset with the woman she loved.
"I'm not Diana Sydney. My real name is Raven Reyes. I'm a computer genius. I own a store in Baltimore. Everything else I've told you has been the truth. I like to go running early in the morning, when it comes to ice cream I prefer vanilla before chocolate, the scar on my back comes from being bowled over by my neighbour's feral dog Murphy and I've fallen for you."
Abby looked baffled, eyes still wide, uncertain, but not shocked. She seemed calm, collected, but uncertain. Raven dug into her pocket to fish out her wallet to show her, real, driver's license.
"See: Raven Reyes. Diana Sydney was a customer, a really horrible customer, and I don't know why, but in a crazy impulsive moment I somehow convinced myself that hacking into her accounts and giving myself a free vacation was a good idea. Turns out breaking the law can occasionally lead to something good; I met you."
Abby took the driver's license, studying it carefully before a big smile erased her earlier uncertainty.
"Raven Reyes. I never thought I'd be so happy about being conned."
"Conned?" Raven felt her heart stop. "I never meant to mislead you Abby, you have to believe me when I-" She stopped abruptly as Abby's words, as well as the look on her face, sank in. "Happy? You're happy?"
Abby's smile grew even wider. "There's something I have to tell you too. I've not been completely honest with you either. Yes, my name is Abigail Griffin and I'm divorced, have a daughter and live in Washington DC. What you don't know is that I was told to kill you. Well, not you. Diana. I'm here to kill Diana Sydney."
"What?!"
"I'm an agent, a spy if you will."
"An assassin?"
"Rarely, even if in this case that would be correct."
Raven once again reached for the glas. She needed something stronger than the wine in it, but it would have to do. She emptied the glass in one big gulp.
"You have to understand that Diana Sydney is a very bad person. She's done things that hurt people. Her actions have caused innocent people to die. It's a long story, but I'm here at this hotel because she was traced here and I'm supposed to take her life. Something wasn't adding up, I just didn't know what. I thought-" Abby took a steadying breath. "I thought my feelings for you were clouding my judgement."
A waiter came over to their table. "Ms Griffin, I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's an urgent message for you." He handled her an envelope and as soon as he left Abby opened it. She discreetly peeked inside, careful not to expose the contents. A smile, eyes meeting Raven's as she handed the envelope to her.
"Anyone you recognize?"
Inside the envelope was a black and white photograph of a blonde woman with an aloof expression on her face.
"Diana Sydney" Raven said the name as her eyes lifted from the photo to steadily meet Abby's.
"I've been in agony, trying to figure out how to get out of this. I was going to tell my boss that I couldn't do it, that I could never hurt you. I've been stalling and even contacted my handler today. I asked for a photo of the mark, hoping for the impossible, that there had been a mixup and now you're telling me exactly that." Abby held up her hand, one finger stretched out as she gestured for Raven to hold on for a second. She reached for her purse, took out her phone and quickly dialed a number.
"It's not her. The mark is not here. A case of mistaken identity."
"Yes, sir. Confirmed."
"Goodnight, sir."
Raven stayed silent as Abby returned the phone to her purse. This had been one roller coaster ride of an evening. Their desserts arrived and they fell silent, both taking in what had just transpired.
"So Raven Reyes," Abby's voice made Raven look up from her chocolate cake. The beautiful smile was back, this time accompanied by a twinkle in her eye that made Raven's stomach full of butterflies. "Washington DC to Baltimore, what is that? A little more than an hour by car?"
Warmth flooded Raven's body, chasing away the last cold tendrils of nervousness and impending disaster. She couldn't have held back the face-splitting smile even if she had wanted to. "40 minutes by train. Definitely within commuting range."
