Chapter 1) finding out
After difficult day at the DPD where a mission had gone south, Annie returned to her apartment,and checked her mail to find a Manila envelope contain what looked to be adoption papers accompanied by some photos of Annie at different stages of her life. Amongst this Annie came across a letter
"dear Annie
, I don't know wether you were ever told you were adopted or not, my name is Elaine Richardson and. I am your biological mother .
I gave you up because I couldn't look after another child I already had a 12yr old. Annie you have a sister her name is Joan and I can't tell you anything else about her ,but I'd like to get the chance to know you and how you turned out and for you to met your sister one day.
Although that maybe hard as she thinks you died at child birth , I couldn't tell her that I gave you away. Your probably thinking how could I give you away, I know my answers will upset you but the reason I gave you away is because I didn't want another baby, I didn't want to have to raise you and your biological father had just passed away.
I received photos every few years from your parent the walkers and I know that doesn't make up for anything , but know I am very sorry for giving you up
I know this is hard to read but I'd like for you to get into contact with me if that's what you want please call me my number and address is on the back of this letter
Your mother
Elaine Richardson "
Annie stared at the letter for over an hour before she could form thoughts. She'd called her sister or not-sister? Danielle. This whole thing was beyond confusing to Annie.
When Danielle picked up the phone Annie didn't bother saying hello she just came out and asked "Danielle am I adopted?" Annie realised her voce sounded so vulnerable.
Her sisters reply unnerved her though " um.. How'd you find out mom and dad have been dead for years"
Angrily Annie snapped " so I am ?! And you knew! I know because I got a letter from someone saying she was my mother "
"oh Annie I am sorry mom and dad told me not to tell you I am so sorry" was Danielle's reply
Annie just responded with "it's to late for that now" and hung up.
*****
Sinking to the floor with her phone still in her hand Annie cried thinking about how she had been lied to her whole life.
After her tears had slowed Annie remember Joan Campbell her boss telling her not so long ago that the people you can count on we here with in the agency.
Almost robotically Annie called Joan hoping She would bring some clarity to this situation. On the second ring Joan answered "Joan Campbell" came though the sound waves, but Annie couldn't form words
Back at Langley Joan Campbell checked her caller ID reading 'Annie Walker' Joan tried to get a response " hello... Annie... " .after a moment Joan heard a small whimper realising Annie must be crying as another whimper came through Joan began to worry. Quickly grabbing her keys and purse Joan continued to try and coax an answer from her operative. " Annie what's wrong?" No answer "Annie... Hey "
Annie heard Joan's concerned tone and tried to respond but all she could manage was "j..j..Joan" . Joan was relieved to have the small reply and instantly said "hey you okay?" "N..n..no" was the shaken response "do you want me to send Auggie over?" A quick "no!" Followed by a loud sob was the reply " Annie " Joan spoke softly as she reached her car "I'm coming over, no arguments"
"Oh..oh..ok" was all Annie said. Joan not wanting Annie to do anything rash responded with "stay on the line with me, you don't have to talk but keep the line open until I get there" . Another shaky responses of "ok" had Joan speeding to Annie's apartment,having never heard her favourite operative so distraught .
******
On arrival Joan knocked on Annie's door before getting the hidden key from where Annie had told her when she'd first moved. Letting herself in quietly Joan called out to Annie "hey it's Joan Annie where are you" , walking through the apartment Joan found Annie curl into a ball on her bedroom floor.
Shocked by the sight of her favourite operatives form and the the loud sobs wrenching through her body Joan dropped to her knees taking Annie in her arms whispering "shhhhhhh... It's okay...shh calm down and tell me what's wrong...shush"
After a few minutes Joan heard Annie begin to talk "how...how could they...how could she...she...she knew the whole time...the whole time she didn't tell me.. Oh god"
Thoroughly confused by this Joan loosened her grip on Annie and asked "what did they know, who knew"
Finally feeling a little bit stronger Annie stood up slowly with the help of Joan and walked over to her bed picking up the contents of the manilla envelop turning it over to Joan . Annie quietly sat on her bed and said " Danielle... She knew" .
Still confused Joan sat beside Annie quietly reading through the adoption forms, looking over pictures of Annie as a child and finally reading the letter realising this to be the reason for Annie's break down, Joan slowly read through the letter At the mention of "Elaine Richardson and a 12yr old daughter named Joan " Joan gasped before quickly standing to pace in front of Annie.
at the sound of Joan's fist loudly connecting with Annie's wall, Annie jumped with a silent scream, turning around Joan realised her actions scared Annie so she quickly soothed her. Before telling Annie to stay in her room for a moment , Joan walked out into the living room grabbing her phone to call Arthur as he picked up Joan quickly said "Arthur I..I I need you to come to Annie's apartmenT PLEASE"
Arthur was confused by Joan's desperate tone so he asked" Joan what's going on "
" Annie she called me upset because of this letter she got in the mail saying she was adopted and I read the letter and papers and oh my god Arthur she she she's my my baby sister" Joan responded sounding horrified as she thought her little sibling had died but she was really the person Joan had had working for her for 3years .
Arthur was starting to understand why Joan sounded so scared he had been told about her mother losing a baby in childbirth when Joan was 12. He responded with "hey I'll be there soon go tell Annie the truth about who she is "
Joan was scared at the thought and said "Arthur she's a wreck if I tell her she'll hate me"
"No Joan, she'll hate you If you don't tell her"
"Okay Arthur but please get here soon and don't bring Auggie she didn't want him "
"Okay sweetie I love you " with that Arthur hung up leaving Joan to return to Annie and tell her that the mother would gave her up was really their mother.
Walking into Annie's bedroom Joan found Annie sitting on the bed calmer than she had been. Joan slowly walker over and sat next to Annie, speaking softly Joan asked Annie to face her. Once Annie followed Joan's requested Joan began to talk again just as softly as before afraid to spook Annie.
"Annie, did you hear any of that phone call I just had ?"
"No, I uh didn't I stayed here"
"Okay, Annie what I am about to tell you is probably going to upset and maybe even make you hate me, but you have to know "
"I uh oh okay.. What is it"
"When I read the adoption papers and the letter, I realised something"
"What was it" Annie asked cautiously
"Your not going to like this but, it appears that your biological parents are my parents" came Joan's hesitant as Annie's eyes widened in surprise before filling with tears again, Joan felt her own eyes fill.
Turning away for a second Annie turned back to Joan to find Joan silently hesitantly crawled over to Joan and wrapped her arms around her as they both cried, as the tears slowed Annie spoke "why would I hate the only person who has told me the truth about this whole thing"
Joan shrugged her shoulders and said "I just thought you'd be mad she kept me but not you, I know you probably feel unwanted and unloved but you have to know that when I found out our mother was pregnant I was so excited to have a baby sibling and If I'd know she'd wanted to give you up I would have tried to stop it"
Annie's composure slipped again as she cried Joan hugged her and said "she screwed us both over, I never got to be your big sister but I want to be there for you I want to be you big sister if you'll have me "
Annie response was " Joan you once told me the people we can count on are those we have in the agency ,tonight before you even knew what was going on you came straight over, if anything you've been like a big sister since i started at the agency . I'd be glad of you would be my official big sister."
Joan quickly nodded "yes Annie I'd love that".
********
Hearing a knock at the door Annie looked at Joan and said "I wasn't expecting any one " as she moved to get up Joan quickly said "that phone call I was talking about it was Arthur he's at the door", "okay " was all Annie said as both she and Joan moved to get the door.
Upon the door opening Arthur saw both Annie and his wife's eyes red and puffy from crying. Worried Joan hadn't yet told Annie he stepped in the apartment closing the door behind him he asked Joan "did you tell her" Annie just looked between Arthur and Joan before bursting out laughing .the suddenness of Annie's laughing worried Joan who nodded yes to Arthur's question before moving over to Annie and saying " hey what's funny"
Annie calmed herself before replying "I just found out I am adopted and my boss is my long lost sister and I just realised that my boss's boss is my brother in law , it just seemed funny when Arthur walked in"
Joan though about it for a minute before laughing herself. Once the laughter died down Arthur asked "are you okay Annie this is quiet the shock"
Annie replied with a simple "it's still feels unreal you know, but I think I'll be okay .thanks to Joan"
Joan shocked at Annie's words said " thanks to me? Annie all I did was tell you that I wanted to be your big sister"
"No Joan , you didn't just do that you showed up and told me that I may have been unwanted by our mother but you still wanted me and you were just here and thank you "
Joan quickly hugged Annie and said "you don't have to thank me that's what big sisters are for aren't they?" Annie laugh at this
Arthur feeling like he was imposing on a sisterly moment didn't say anything until the Hug broke, realising both girls were looking at him he just said " hey I have a sister In law ,if you want me to beat anyone up just call although I think Joan will beat me to it"
Joan nodded and said "damn straight no ones going to touch my baby sister "
At this they all laughed. Arthur said "Joan you need me here or do you want me to leave you to get to know your sister better?" Joan looked at Annie questioningly and said "can you go get us some dinner and alcohol? Please " Annie's face brightened at the prospects of alcohol after the days events she quietly said to Joan "do you want to talk?" " Joan simply replied with "yup, I said I warned to be your big sister, I want to know you and so will Arthur If that's okay with you, but I am also hungry so Arthur can get you and I food if you don't want him here he will leave"
At Joan's statement Annie quickly said " no you and Arthur should stay, I don't want to be on my own right now"
Joan said " why don't you go pack a few things" at this Annie looked at Joan strangely as did Arthur . "Why?" Was all Annie said " because you are going to stay with me and Arthur for a little while . That way we can get to know more about each other outside work and you don't have to be alone "
At Joan's sisterly act Annie smiled before asking "are your sure Joan? You and Arthur don't have to"
Arthur replied to this "Annie your Joan's little sister that makes you my little sister now and I want for you and Joan to spend time together outside of the office"
Joan quickly added "no arguments Annie your staying with us"
"Okay" Annie said silently turning into her bedroom.
*******
Arthur having left in his own car to get them some dinner before heading to the Campbell residence, left Annie and Joan to drive to Joan's together in Joan's car. After 20minutes of nervous silence a thought occurred to Annie
"Hey Joan..." Annie ask hesitantly
"What's up Annie?"
"What happens at work now? Do I have to leave the DPD? And what are we supposed to do about the others " Annie responded in a scared voice Joan had never heard from her
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts Joan responded. " Annie, there's no rule that I know of ever saying that siblings can't work in the same department but I am not sure we'll ask Arthur when we get home and as for the others in the department I'll let you decide wether or when you want to tell them, but you don't have to"
After that the rest of the ride was silent .
********
Arriving at the house Joan walked inside with Annie hesitantly trailing behind her, noting Annie's skittish movements Joan reached out to take Annie's hand in her own, giving it a reassuring squeeze, Joan spoke "hey, my house is your house okay? You can stay in the guest room come on"
Nodding silently Annie allowed Joan to lead her by hand to the guest room, on arrival Joan took Annie's bag placing it on the dresser before leading Annie over to sit on the bed.
"Hey, I know this is incredibly weird ,but I want you to feel like you can talk to me about any thing " Joan started the conversation
"I just can't believe her!,she knew all this time she knew and she didn't tell me if she had of then maybe we wouldn't be finding out this way we would have already known or at least I'd know I was adopted" Annie finally express that she felt betrayed by Danielle ,realising she'd just said that to her 'sister' about her sister or not sister Annie turned away from Joan, worried she may of offended her. Only to have Joan turn Annie's face toward her own and say -
"Hey, it's okay I am pretty mad myself having thought you were dead . Your right they should of told you about your adoption your parents and Danielle should have, just like I should of been told you were given up. But no one told us and now we have to decide what to do about it "
"When I first read the letter I called Danielle and asked if I was adopted , you know she said 'how'd you find out and then something about mum and dad telling her not to tell me, they all lied to me and I just don't know what's real and what's not anymore" Annie says weakly trying to hold off tears
"It's going to be okay Annie, I am going to make sure of that, okay?"
"How can you promise that, Joan ?"
"I Can promise that because even if I don't know much about being a big sister, I do know things about you, you got over mercer even though it hurt, in the three years I've known you as your boss you've never once let go of something you believe in ,you have always kept of right now you don't have to fight alone anymore because I am going to always fight for you" by the end of Joan's answer both girls we in tears again, without saying r anything to reply Annie crawled to Joan and hugged her.
As Annie began to sob Joan held her tighter wishing she could take away the pain and confusion that is consuming Annie .
**
Ten minutes later Arthur walked through the front door with a pack of beers, pizza and a bottle of vodka knowing Joan likes vodka after a particularly draining day. Leaving everything in the kitchen Arthur slowly made his way through the house looking for Joan and Annie, coming to the room opposite the room he shares with Joan he peers in to see both girls asleep holding onto one another.
Walking further into the room he sees tear tracks mixed with both girls mascara running down their checks, at the sight Arthur feels he's heart break.
Waiting a few minutes Arthur approaches Joan and gently shakes her awake,
"Hey" he speaks softly as to not wake Annie
"Your home," Joan says attempting to get up with out waking Annie only to have Annie wake at the movement
Noticing Annie blinking Arthur speaks "hey Annie I brought pizza, you and Joan come down and eat please"
Turning back to Annie Joan sees Annie Shake her head 'no' "I am not hungry thanks" Annie says quietly
"Annie you have to eat I know you skipped lunch today come on" Joan said authoritatively.
"How did you - uh- fine" Annie said back . At this Joan smirked and both moved down to the kitchen.
They ate in silence until Joan remembered Annie asking wether she'd have to switch departments now . Joan asked Arthur "is there any rule that says Annie and I can't work in the same department at work?"
"Nope it's very uncommon but I think you two will be okay " Arthur said
"Okay" Joan said
After dinner Joan and Annie returned to 'Annie's room' , and told each other things about themselves.
An hour or two later Annie and Joan felt as thought they'd known each other for ever.
After Joan finished telling Annie about her decision to join the CIA , Joan sent Annie of for a shower and went to talk to Arthur .
"Hey" Joan said
"Hey honey, how are you feeling?"
"I am okay, I am just mad at my mom, how could she not tell me Arthur?, she sent my little sister away !and now Annie feels like everything she every knew was a lie. What do I do?" Joan asked blinking back tears
"Hey come here" Arthur says pulling Joan onto his lap and kissing her cheek "it's okay to feel mad maybe even betrayed but you and Annie will get through this together, she is a lot like you when you were her age, just be there for her okay "
"I uh I can do that"
"Good girl,where is Annie ?"
"In the shower, Arthur I want to know why mum sent Annie away and why she told me she was dead " Joan says hesitantly
" why don't you call her. If you want you can wait until Annie comes out and have her listen and maybe even talk to your mum if she wants to"
"I'll call her after I ask Annie if she wants to listen in"
Joan turned and kissed Arthur on the lips before sliding off his lap and snuggling in next to him on the couch.
Annie silently walked into the living room and sat on the floor by Joan's feet , Joan silently looked at Arthur for an encouraging nod before reaching over to pat Annie on the head and saying
"Annie, I am going to call my mother because I want to know why she did why she did that to you and why she let me believe you were dead, I want to know if you want to sit in on the call you don't have to speak and we don't have to tell her your there unless you want to , Annie do you want to listen or talk to her ?"
"Joan can I listen please ?"
"Okay "
Dialling the number of Elaine Richardson her mother, Joan looked at Annie next to her and said "hey no matter what happens you'll always have me okay?"
"Okay" was Annie's nervous reply.
Joan pressed the call button placing the phone on speaker between them and waiting silently for Elaine to answer
"Hello" Elaine answers
"Mom" Joan say cooly
"Joanie is that you?"
"Yup, mum I have to ask you something" Joan spoke hesitantly, at this point Annie grasped Joan's hand and squeezed it hoping to be strong for Joan .
"What is it Hun?"
"When I was twelve you were pregnant, what happened to the baby ?"
"She died Joan, you already know this"
At that remark Annie had to fight to regain control over her emotions she wanted to scream
"No! She didn't die mother" Joan snapped
"Joan she did, I am not lying to you"
"You know I'd love to believe you but, I have seen the adoption forms signed by you, the photos of her and the letter you sent to her about how sorry you are and how you want to get to know her and for her to get to know me " Joan's anger rose at her mother lies ,Annie having never seen Joan so mad squeezed her hand trying to calm her in anyway.
A sigh came through the airwaves followed by " how do you know any of that Joan?"
"You want to know how I found out, you know what I'd love to know why my baby sister was given away and why I was lead to believe she's dead, when really she's been working under me for over 3yrs mother! How could you do this to her and me !"
Joan's voice cracked, Annie thinking it best to try and calm her rubbed Joan's back soothingly.
"Joan " Elaine sighed "this is not a discussion we should have over the phone"
"I need to know why mother and frankly so does Annie !"
At this point Joan rested her head on Annie's shoulder
"How about I come by tomorrow and explain this to you?"
Joan look to Annie before saying "hold on a minute ,I need to go talk to Arthur" . Joan put the call on hold before saying to Annie " I want to know, do you? . I don't want to be here for this conversation on my own. If you aren't ready I'll ask Arthur but you should have the option first, what do you want to do Annie ?"
"I uh I don't know if I am ready for this, but I want to be here for you so , I want to be there" Annie said
"Are you sure Annie ?"
"Yes"
"Okay" Joan reconnected the call and said "I'll see you tomorrow mum "
Okay bye Joanie " Elaine replied
"Bye" with that Joan disconnected the call.
They sat in silence thinking about the call Annie was mad about the letter she had gotten and 'Elaine' telling Joan she was dead even though the letter stating she wanted to tell Joan the truth. Joan was frustrated and angry that her mother tried to lie to her again even with Annie sitting there.' Oh god Annie ', Joan thought 'dammit I shouldn't have let Arthur talk me into letting her listen' . Looking over at Annie Joan noticed she just seemed confused and angry, but she wasn't crying Joan took that as a positive.
A knock came at 'Annie's door' and it slowly opened as Arthur poked his head into see if the call was over. Annie noticed him first giving him a small smile and slight hand wave gesturing him inside.
Joan hadn't noticed the knock whilst she paced around the room, Arthur slowly approached her cautious of her mood. Before anyone spoke Joan punched a wall for the second time that evening,then slide onto the floor pulling her knees to her chest and sobbing angrily.
At this both Annie and Arthur jumped to their feet and moved over to Joan . Annie slide down next to Joan whispering "hey...shhh...Joan you'll be okay...shh" . Annie's attempts to sooth Joan feel on deaf ears as the sobs got louder. Annie looked helplessly to Arthur hoping he could sooth her sister. Arthur having watched both girls sat on Joan's other side, picking her up,placing her in his lap. Arthur rubbed her back and said "hey honey you did great come on let it out"
Burying her head in Arthur's chest Joan cried, looking over at Annie Arthur saw her silently crying, not knowing what to do with two crying girls he shifted Joan over, grabbed Annie's shoulders and pull her over to them.
Arthur sat there for a long while soothing both girls, rubbing Annie's back and kissing Joan's forehead.
When Joan regained composure she looked at Arthur and kissed him. When the kiss ended Joan lifted her head to find Arthur's other arm wrapped around Annie whose face was tear stained ,noticing she was asleep Joan quietly moved from Arthur's lap to the bed turning it down.
Joan then said "Arthur can you pick her up please "
Arthur nodded picking Annie up and putting her in the bed, helping Joan cover her over they left the room.
"Thank you for soothing her Arthur, it's been a hard day for her" Joan said as they entered their room and got in to bed
"Hey "Arthur said "she's your sister that makes her mine now to and it's been a hard day for both of you come here"
Joan nodded and crawled over to Arthur cuddling into him , she feel asleep