Joan Campbell, wife of Arthur Campbell, stood in her office and surveyed the working Agents below. Each looked busy with one task or another; all except one. A barely auditable sigh escaped from her lightly painted lips. Annie Walker, newest recruit to the Agency and the DPD, was once again staring off into space. This wasn't the first time Joan had observed the younger woman slip away into some unknown daydream but over the last few days the lack of focus and bouts of inattention had increased and she was sure that the appearance of Ben Mercer once again in the young Agents life had something to do with it. "What am I going to do with you?" She asked her empty office as her eyes continued to linger on the other blonde. With one last glance she turned and strode to her desk but once she sat down in her comfortable chair all thoughts of work had disappeared and she found her eyes move towards the window again. What little progress she had made with Annie had been lost in a matter of hours all thanks to Mercer's meddling; a side effect, she was willing to bet her pension, that he was counting on. Another sigh slipped passed her lips as she reached down and pulled open the bottom most drawer of her desk. After a few seconds of rummaging she pulled out a deep mahogany picture frame and laid it face down on her desk. Over the years she had learned, the hard way in some cases, that the past was best left there. But there was one event from her own history that she couldn't forget no matter how hard she tried. Turning the frame over she used the palm of her hand to wipe the dust off the glass that protected the picture within and within seconds she was staring at the smiling face of her much younger self. It had been taken just a few short weeks after she had met Arthur and fell head over heels in love with him. He offered her the world; an offer she was more than willing to accept. It was her chance at a fairy tale; at a happily ever after. A sad smile stretched across her lips as she remembered the events leading up to and following the picture being taken.
"Come on Annie are you going to open those gorgeous little eyes for mama?" Joan Cooper cooed at her sleeping four month old daughter. The little girl was the light of her life and today was the day she was going to introduce the most important little girl in her life to what was becoming the most important man in life.
Little Annie hearing her mothers soothing voice opened her eyes and yawned.
Joan smiled and ran a hand over her daughters soft blonde hair. "That's my girl." She proceeded to change and dress the still drowsy baby. Once she was done Annie was wide awake. "How about we have breakfast?" She asked her daughter as she carried her out of their shared room and into the small kitchen. Pulling open the fridge she carried a bottle of milk to the stove and began to heat it to the desired temperature. "I have a surprise for you today Angel." She told Annie as she fed her and walked around the small room. Being a waitress didn't pay all that much but she had enough, barely, to support herself and her little girl. "We're getting out picture taken today. Isn't that exciting?" Once the bottle was done she deposited it into the sink and went about making herself some toast. "After that I'm going to introduce you to Arthur. He's such a sweet man I know he'll just adore you. And if all goes well I'm hoping he'll become your new daddy. Would you like that Angel?"
After finishing her bottle Annie just listened to her mothers words just learning how to understand their context and meaning.
After everything was done and Annie was secure in her car seat Joan proceeded to drive them to the professional picture studio where they were scheduled to a family picture taken. Pulling into the parking lot early gave Joan the time to think about her daughters biological father; a married career military man with one daughter already. She had been his mistress for the year he had been stationed in Illinois. And when Colonel Andrew Walker got reassigned to a base in New York she had been devastated. Annie had been the result of their very passionate goodbye. Blinking she looked over her shoulder at her daughter who was experimenting with different sounds. From the moment the beautiful little girl had been placed in her arms she knew she was something special; that she'd grow up to do great things. "Time to get our picture taken Angel." She went about gathering up the diaper bag and unbuckling Annie then entered the studio. The pictures came out great and she even stopped on the way home and bought a picture frame for her favorite one. She vowed that no matter how old Annie got the picture, her smiling while holding Annie, would stay on her nightstand. But she would soon come to realize that that would be just one vow, one promise, of many that she'd end up breaking.
Leaving Annie with the babysitter Joan went out to dinner with Arthur where he proposed and she accepted. It was a flurry of activity after that. She introduced her future husband to her daughter; neither it seemed liked the other. Annie cried whenever Arthur was in the room and would scream when he tried to hold her. Arthur really made no effort to bond with the pixie faced little girl that looked like a miniature clone of her mother and would leave whenever the cries, whimpers, and screams got too much for him to handle. This forced her to leave her precious daughter with a babysitter whenever she wanted to spend time with her fiancé.
Then one night, two weeks into their engagement, Joan stumbled upon Arthur's secret. He was with the C.I.A. Confused at first she wanted nothing to do with him but he sat her down and explained, what he could. Couple days later she was recruited. They married a short time later and soon it became apparent that she had no time or place in her new life for little Annie. She was seeing more of the babysitter than her actual mother. The final straw was when she overheard her eight month old daughter call the babysitter mama. The fate of Annie Walker was decided in that split second. She went through every channel she had access to until she found the contact information for Andrew Walker. She made contact, introduced him to his daughter, signed the right papers, and then disappeared out of Annie's life all together. Neither she nor Arthur spoke of her fair haired child ever again. Nor did they have any children of their own. Both citing, if asked, their line of work as the reason.
Joan traced the face of daughter in the picture. She never thought or even dreamt that she'd see her Annie again but fate was cruel. She hadn't even known she had been recruited until the day Arthur signed the papers for her crossover from trainee to employee. On that day Joan felt the familiar hatred for the man flare up to a boil. He always liked mind games. Excelled at them to be honest. He also liked to be in control and this was just another method for him to achieve that. So wrapped up in her thoughts she hadn't noticed someone enter her office. When she looked up she quickly turned the picture over and plastered on a pleased smile. "Hey."
Arthur Campbell raised an eyebrow and offered his own smile. "I'm heading home. Dinner in tonight?" He offered.
"Sure." Joan answered. "Italian?" She questioned playing her role of devoted wife flawlessly.
"Italian I can handle." Arthur turned and left Joan to her secrets. As he strolled through the DPD he couldn't help how his gaze lingered on the newest member; Annie Walker. His step-daughter. His means to an end. She'd lead them straight to Ben Mercer that much he was sure of. "Agent Walker how are you this evening?" He raised his voice just enough so that Joan, who he knew was walking from her office, could hear him.
Blinking out of her daydream Annie cleared her throat. "Fine….sir." She answered automatically slightly insubordinate. Ben's words about not trusting either Campbell seemed to be stuck on a loop in her head.
Arthur nodded and continued on his way.
"Bastard." Joan mumbled as she returned to her desk and with a last glance at the picture tucked it back into the drawer. There would be a time and a place for the truth to come out but now was neither the time nor the place. She could wait after all she had already waited this long. What was another couple weeks? Or months even? Until then she'd continued to protect her daughter the best she could without Annie or Auggie, she had noticed how close those two were becoming, finding out about it. And at the end of the day she may hate her husband but at times she'd get a glimpse of the man she first fell in love with and would be lost again. It wouldn't last. He'd piss her off again and she'd go back to resenting him. Gathering her things she followed her husbands lead and left for the evening. Italian was her favorite and Arthur could actually cook.
Whoever said the life of a spy was easy?