Rake at the Gates of Hell
By Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Deuteron
A gift for my best friend
Auggie/Annie/Jai – As the saying goes: Threesomes solve everything. Everything.
Warning: Dark – please heed the warning if you're a fan of fluff and your OTP is either Annie/Auggie or Annie/Jai don't just don't. If you're mortally offended by the idea that those two alpha males pawing the ground is just dripping with homoerotic undertones, no don't I mean it. Also if you're under the impression 'Covert Affairs' it just 'Friends' with sleek high tech spy stuff, really, don't I'm begging you.
Spoilers: Let's say "Horse to Water" at least and AU to be safe
Disclaimer: Remember – don't own Covert Affairs, never have, never will. If I did the entire show would be shot in Auggie's apartment sort of like this story – seriously.
Author's note: First and foremost I love Auggie. I think he is one of the coolest characters on television in perhaps the last decade. That said television as a medium stands back and lets the audience take much of what characters say at face value and in most shows they are truthful in word and deed. With 'Covert Affairs' we only know the character's bios as what they have claimed, in character, on camera, in the episodes shown so far. We don't get to pull up the files the CIA used when vetting them, psych evaluations, the results of polygraphs, or see there *real* histories or into what they are thinking. On other shows when anger is expressed, fear, joy and such, that is normally what the character is feeling. Not so much on 'Covert Affairs'. This story is told from Jai's point of view, so his assumptions, speculations and history with both Auggie and Annie will color his interpretation of events.
Rake at the Gates of Hell
By Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Deuteron
Soft jazz poured like cool water from extremely high end speakers. Anderson was in loose drawstring pants and a faded tee that had probably once been dark blue. He'd changed into the soft comfortable clothes after his workout. An op Auggie had been running went much longer than expected. Nothing like finishing the debriefing report at 2 PM on a Saturday especially when his day had started early on Friday, Jai though.
Jai had been in the office finalizing a couple offers for new hires. He'd seen Auggie only by the light of his monitor when he'd arrived that morning and knew he'd been at it all night. He'd felt a twinge of guilt for being the reason Auggie was short staffed and frankly a bit of fear knowing that if he truly burned that bridge it could seriously bite him. People owed Auggie; sometimes scary people in scary places. You never knew whose ass he had saved or who he'd seduced.
So he'd made an effort to mend that fence. When Jai swung by the gym he intended to just give Auggie the bottle, with an attempt at 'no hard feeling' and leave. Seeing Anderson emerge from the locker room with his civilian cane Jai thought he'd offer him a ride home. And unexpectedly, and it shouldn't be because when detailing with Anderson he was never as polished or as confident as planned, something completely different emerged when he spoke.
Running into Annie as they were both heading to Jai's car had been unusual for a Saturday but pleasant. On the ride back to Auggie's loft however Jai had been wary when Anderson asked if Jai knew why Annie was in today. Since Annie had told them she'd been called in for a brief translation consult, Jai figure what he was really asking was if Jai bought the story or if Jai had any details that conflicted with it.
Jai wasn't so much surprised that Anderson was paranoid, he was just surprised he wasn't hiding any suspicions from him. Given Auggie was one of the few people who treated him no differently after his father's debacle, and that Jai had recently kind of screwed him, Jai figured he owe him at least a bottle of tequila, a serious drinking binge and an honest response, so he said," I think, she thinks that's why she was called in."
Of course the reason the way Auggie treated him hadn't changed was because Auggie'd always been kind of antagonistically hostile peppered with sarcasm and insults, but still there was a sense of continuity and history of support and Jai had appreciated it; not that he intended to share that fact with Anderson. Jai ditched his suit jacket and tie and left them in his car, rolled up his sleeves and headed up to Anderson's place to wait for Annie who was stopping for Mexican to go with the tequila.
Later, Jai wondered, how the three of them had gotten onto the subject of finding a theme song for the CIA. Annie may have implied it would help interdepartmental communications, but she was aware of Jai taking Auggie's two best employees and so the comment may have just been a dig at Jai. It was anyone's guess. Almost the whole bottle of Patron was gone; Anderson's coffee table was littered with slices of lime, empty shot glasses, tumblers and a water filled ice bucket, all among sprinklings of spilled salt. Jai figured it was just one of those subject which seemed profound when you were buzzed but left you wondering how you devoted hours to it in the light of day.
Tonight they weren't social drinking in a crowded tavern, blending in with all the young professional government workers who were hooking up and hanging out at happy hour. This was purposeful. The conscious imbibing of semi-toxic doses of what was literally a depressant to dull the senses, blur memories, slow thoughts and medicate a hyper aware genius for at least a few hours. If it stayed his hand at any overt or covert retaliation for stealing Stu and Barber, it was just icing.
Jai didn't know if Annie grasped this concept of willfully and intentionally getting drunk. She'd offered Auggie a ride, probably surprised he was willingly accompanying Jai anywhere. She'd pretty much invited herself when Auggie had replied to her inquiry if she could meet them at the tavern with "going home, getting drunk."
It was October and Jai remembered what had happened in October. Annie was probably unaware of what event that this very day was the anniversary of, but there was a reason they were sitting around Anderson's dim condo instead of out among their own ilk. Jai was oddly touched to be included, although since he'd offered the bottle to Anderson as he exited the changing room and asked, "Would you like to get drunk?" maybe it *was* Annie who was being included.
Annie was currently giggling her way through a half a dozen suggestions regarding what song would describe the company, from the Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams' to Christina Aguilera's 'Fighter'. Jai was thinking he should chime in with just about anything before she picked something from the Britney Spears milieu. She was draped across both their laps, not that they'd all started on the couch but apparently as reaching for the bottle or glasses became more and more of a concentrated effort they'd all gravitated closer together.
Annie had landed, awkwardly with her bare feet in his lap, making him extremely grateful that they had all kicked their shoes under the couch at some point in the evening. Her head narrowly missed slamming Auggie in the family jewels. Jai had almost lost the thread of the conversation as he pondered whether the large hand catching and cradling her head was yet another sign of Anderson's freaky ninja powers or just damn good survival instinct.
Auggie rolled his head against the back of the couch giving the impression not only that he was looking at him but that he could read Jai's expression before murmuring, "she's a buck ten soaking wet and holding a brick, you think I couldn't see that coming."
"I'm not drunk," Annie chimed in while shaking her head, and if Auggie hadn't had his hand under it she'd be sending a completely different message. Talented linguist, completely oblivious to some of the nonverbal cues she sent; or maybe she wasn't. There was no way in hell he could drive but Jai could still pour himself into a cab if these two were about to consummate the bizarre 'you're my best friend but I feel the need to touch you all the times' dance they'd been doing for the past two years. He should bow out; of course he would have to stand up to do that.
"Remember," Auggie said directing his gaze toward his lap, "the blind guy sucks as holding your hair when you start praying to the porcelain god in there." He'd ended that statement with a nod in the direction of the bathroom and Jai took a moment to marvel that this was the famous ladies' man of Langley. Dear God was it just the sheer number of women that threw themselves bodily into his path that gave him that reputation? It certainly wasn't anything resembling charm.
Reaching toward the table, the long fingers of Auggie's free hand lifted the bottle a fraction of an inch, and gently joggled the bottle's neck swirling the water left in the ice bucket. This subtle confirmation that the ice had all indeed melted prompted him to replace the bottle and in a move far too graceful for the amount of tequila consumed, at once gently lift Annie's head and slide out from under her. Jai watched as Auggie did this and then snagged the bucket in passing and navigated to and through the kitchen to dump the water and refill the ice without even the high tech laser cane he used at work. It was mesmerizing to watch Auggie move around his own domain. People thought he was confident at work; here he prowled like a panther.
"I got one," Auggie's words and the soft click of the bucket being replaced on the coffee table startled Jai, he felt a flush rush to his face and had to remind himself that Anderson couldn't see that he'd been watching him. Of course that didn't mean he wasn't aware of Jai watching him, Auggie always seemed to be aware of things like that. Instead of suggesting a song title that low ultra-calm voice both Jai and Annie were used to murmuring in their ears in times of crises spoke the lyrics, less like a rapper and more like one of the beat poets, "I'll be with them asleep or dreaming; I'll be there when they wake up screaming; at the hour of death I will nurse them; to have a moment more to curse them; watch the maggots crawl out of them; hear the angels call above them; watch them as the cold air sucks them; down to hell good night good luck; then if any should escape above me; beg and cheat until they trust me; drag them down to be damned with me; laugh at them as they forgive me."
"That's," Annie was blinking in the dim, still sitting sideways on the couch it seemed she was tasting her words, part her company training and part sweet girl still trying to desperately delude herself that it wasn't all true. Finally she settled on a word and slurred, "horrible." Then again maybe she just didn't like The Pogues.
Auggie grinned and dropped heavily into chair closest to Jai. Whether it was to keep Annie out of his lap or just because it was closer to the booze was beyond Jai at this point. Knowing Agent Anderson it was both, and many more reasons.
Bypassing the shot glasses, Jai dropped a slice of salted lime into a low tumbler and splashed a couple fingers of tequila into it. Jai leaned forward, one hand stayed firmly on Annie's feet because he really didn't want to end up laying on the floor holding his balls anytime soon, or well, anytime really. Holding out the tumbler and brushing it against the back of Auggie's hand, Jai continued, "Mother's eyes are sparking diamonds; still the moon shows no likeness; roses wither may god deliver; the rake at the gates of hell tonight." It wasn't like it was the anniversary of when Jai got blinded; if Anderson wanted to be drunk and morose then they could damn well be drunk and morose, and his response was rewarded with a smirk so he'd call it win/win.
"What is that?" Annie asked and was answered by both Auggie saying, "Shane MacGowan" and Jai saying, "The Pogues." This caused her to scrunch her nose and make her 'I'm blonde and thinking hard' face. Jai couldn't have stopped the chuckle if someone had a gun on him, training or no training.
"What?" Auggie asked.
"She's making the 'thinking's hard' face," Jai said. He immediately received a bark of laughter from Auggie and a bop in the head with a pillow from Annie when she growled, "I don't have a 'thinking's hard' face."
For once in their careers the men achieved total synergy with not just words but cadence when they said in stereo, "Yes. You do."
Annie huffed, expressing frustration and getting the hair out of her eyes, who said drunken CIA operatives couldn't multitask. First she made an odd vowel sound as if visibly restraining herself from point out Auggie was blind and didn't know what the hell kind of faces she made. Jai thought part of this was because Annie saw herself as a nice person and nice people didn't yell at blind people, hit blind people or point out to blind people that they were in fact blind as if that little detail had somehow slipped their notice. It also might have something to do with Auggie's being blind never having stopped him from reading both of them like the freakish crazy ninja that he was.
"I mean," she finally said with air of one showing great maturity for bypassing the 'do not/do to' debate, "the words 'drag them down to be damned with me; laugh at them as they forgive me' that's not what we do. That's," here she gave up, tugging her feet from Jai's lap and tucking them under her before she turned appealing eyes on them, which was totally not fair since they were wasted on Anderson. Come to think of it they would probably have been wasted on Auggie even before he couldn't see them.
Jai never forgot who had given him the nickname 'Satan's little helper'. The most irritating thing about Anderson wasn't that he was a liar. Well, he was a liar. They all were liars. Auggie was a phenomenal liar; but his real forte was the truth. Auggie Anderson could wield the truth with the precision of a brain surgeon's scalpel. He could bludgeon you with it like a baseball bat or slit your throat as quickly and painlessly as a straight razor.
A slow smile, not the charming little boy grin he often used but a sultry smirk that was pure sin slide into place on Auggie's face. With his head tipped slightly forward, his eyes shadowed and that lean muscular body literally poured over the arm chair it was no wonder he was a legend. Jai couldn't take his eyes off him and he was actually good at resisting seduction, despite rumors to the contrary.
"Annie Walker," Auggie purred, and Jai heard her tiny gasp. If he could tear his eyes off of Anderson's pornographic sprawl he would probably see her panicked blush and a shocked look as her best friend, the one who treated her just like one of the guys despite or perhaps because of his casually flirtatious nature with no effort or sign of calculation, suddenly and simply exuded sex.
"Auggie?" Annie said in a small breathless voice.
Anderson took a slow sensuous swallow from his glass and showed no sign that it must have burned the whole way down. Licked his lips and continued, "We're whores, Annie. We're liars and cheats. We steal. We blackmail. We manipulate. We seduce. Lives, loyalties, they're currency: ours; the assets; our allies. You told me once you wanted to know how dirty you'd get. Do you know yet?" He lean forward, brushed the back of his hand above the table at the height of the bottle in a move that looked graceful not searching. Finding it, he emptied the last couple ounces into his tumbler before languidly taking the glass and the empty bottle out to the kitchen.
Going back to the song his words were low and clear unlike their normal incomprehensibility when the band performed it. All the while, pulling a new bottle from the freezer and holding it out to Jai to do the honors, Auggie slid back into his seat still reciting the lyrics. "I wish that they could walk forever; on the earth alone unfettered; until they pray for consummation; until they beg for sweet damnation; then I'll come and bring them water; bring them hope, bring them laughter; raise their hopes both sad and sunken; slash them up as they lie there drunken; push them down into the foul mud; until they choke up on their own blood; drag them out before their last breath; to take away the mercy of death."
Annie was staring at Auggie like he'd just turned into a werewolf and mauled a kitten. Jai slid the tumbler he'd prepared from the new bottle in front of her and leaned back with his own. There was a time when he'd have tried to diffuse this situation, comfort Annie or argue with Auggie.
Sipping a mouthful of icy fire he wondered when he'd become so jaded. Right now he was just curious as to where Anderson was going with this, because the guy was good but there was no way he could convince Jai that this was just bitter drunken ramblings. Auggie, despite the image he projected, was the single most controlled individual Jai had ever met; everything had a purpose usually more than one, hell usually more than several.
Around the time Auggie had dubbed Jai 'Satan's little helper' Jai had postulated that Auggie was a high functioning sociopath. Even before losing his sight the man had a talent for overhearing what you least wanted him to. Almost as soon as the words had left Jai's mouth he'd been pulled back flush against Anderson's body in what probably appear to the rest of the bar as a drunken buddy misjudging body contact and a voice at once both menacing and seductive growled, "Ya know, you're probably right. Ain't it a bitch how I keep passing the Psych evals."
So what was the message here and who was the message for? It had to be for either him or Annie right? Or maybe not. Was it paranoia to wonder if they were being monitored? It would be tough to wire the place for long without Anderson's knowledge. The guy was brilliant, had obscene connections and access to more high tech gadgetry than James Bond. Jai was pretty sure he wasn't wired but would Annie know if someone had replaced a phone or imbedded something in a shoe or handbag. Or would she have brought something willingly?
"Is this an op?" As soon as Jai had asked he wanted to take the words back. He was officially shutting himself off, no more alcohol if the filter between his brain and mouth was gone.
"What'd mean," Annie asked looking genuinely confused. But Jai's brain was whirling like an engine that just couldn't shift gears. He consciously cleared his expression and he could feel his body going into hyper-vigilance mode as if he were expecting a bullet from someone from some direction for some reason.
"Jai wants to know if we're being monitored and/or if you're working us, Annie," Auggie drawled, tipping his head back as if it had become too heavy and resting it against the low chair back. Anderson's legs were splayed his arms uncrossed and draped causally over the chair's arms, a half full tumbler of tequila dangling from one hand. He was good. Auggie looked wasted and completely unconcerned with the answer. He just might be wasted. It was a lot of tequila for just three people, especially when Annie wasn't really consuming a full share. However, Jai would bet a month's pay Auggie was poised to glean information from whatever answer be it truth or subterfuge that Annie chose to give.
"What!" Annie glared first at Auggie and then seeing it was completely ineffectual turned it on Jai. "How dare," she stopped and Jai absently wondered if she would be reduces back to vowel sounds due to both outrage and the inability to decided which one of them to yell at first. "You," she growled and Jai stopped himself from smiling and saying 'ah so, I'm first'. She jumped up, only slightly wobbly and crossed her arms and continued "were the one who 'worked' me! I trusted you and you were only interested in if I had contact with"
"Give it a rest, Walker," Auggie interrupted with a soft murmur, still seemingly feigning drunken disinterest.
"Auggie?" Annie's shocked and betrayed look was wasted in Jai's opinion but she did manage to convey a lot with tone of voice.
Anderson deigned to lift his head a bit and Jai couldn't have been more surprised that the one person to defend him was the one who had suspected the op was in play from the day he set foot in the DPD. "He was given an assignment," Auggie said sounding tired, and Jai wondered if Auggie and Annie had had this conversation before.
"He should have refused," she started only to be cut off again.
"Why the hell would he refuse? Target: hot blonde. Previously in contact with rogue agent may have been given access to classified information, may still be or have future contact with rogue agent. Assignment: get close; stay close," Auggie sat forward and rested his forearms on his knees. Gently placing his glass back on the table he shook his head and chuckled, "seriously? You're his kryptonite. He could no more turn down that assignment than you could one that required you to attend Fashion Week in Manhattan."
Jai felt something release in his chest. Although Annie's arms were crossed and she was still, for lack of a better word pouting, her eyes were no longer trying to set him on fire and she didn't have that look she occasionally got like he was, well, Satan's little helper.
Annie stepped over to Auggie's chair and sort of hip checked him, lightly given that he was both blind and apparently drunk. Jai relaxed even further as Auggie picked his glass back up off the table and sipped while Annie perched on the chair's arm and placed a hand on Auggie's shoulder. That nice feeling of dodging a potentially awkward confrontation lasted almost ten seconds until Anderson shocked the hell out of him and apparently Annie by saying, "I didn't turn down the assignment either; doesn't mean we're not friends."
She crossed her arms but didn't stand again. That most likely had to do with her blood alcohol level more than a level of trust. However she was back to not being able to form words, Jai was right there with her although he expected they both would like to sending out lots of W words like 'what' and 'why' and okay maybe there was a 'are you crazy' in there but that question had always been there as far as Jai was concerned in regard to August Anderson and Jai figured if he ever did have an answer to the crazy question it would just change the next time he asked it so, well, moving on.
Tear-filled eyes replaced the glare of death, which incidentally compared to Joan's glare of death was like watching a kitten hiss at crocodile. Before she could start back with the 'how could you' or worse as far as Jai was concerned and he was willing to bet Auggie would think it was worse too, start crying. Auggie stated in his too calm, mission voice, "Are you about to try and convince me you were unaware that someone was assigned to meet you and escort you to Joan's office on your first day?"
"Well no," She sniffed but wasn't crying so Jai called it a win.
"Are you about to try and convince me you were unaware that I was assigned to show you around and field any of your questions?" He continued.
"Auggie, what are you trying to say?" Annie asked. Jai watched her face. The 'thinking's hard' look was subtly replaced by a tremendous effort of will, like she was trying to push past the haze of alcohol and reevaluate her entire career, every mission, every encounter, in light of the new information.
Auggie rolled his head and soft crackling noises came from his neck before he answered, "I'm saying Peter is heavy-handed, he tells Jai, get close to her and then says go get 'em Tiger."
"He never called me Tiger," Jai felt the need to interject. The shit-eating grin Anderson shot him as a result almost made Jai groan in frustration. Auggie might not use it openly around Langley but Jai had a sinking feeling it would be flirtatiously purred over the coms during any field missions for the rest of his natural life.
Losing the grin Auggie turned back toward Annie and said, "Joan, she a bit more subtle."
"What," Annie asked in a small betrayed voice, "what exactly did she say?"
Auggie frowned and said, "Basically you were new, pulled from the farm early, keep an eye on you and answer your questions. Like I said she more subtle than Arthur, he's a politician, he gets sidetracked trying to pull strings and control everything. She's a *really* good agent. She doesn't tell you how to get results, just to get them, leaves it open for your own interpretation."
"I'm not sure…" she was talking to Auggie but looking at Jai as if he had some insight to this. "I'm not sure how I feel about this."
"Really? Works well don't you think? She has me watching you. And," he paused and took another sip, "and she has you watching me."
Annie gasped and looked shocked, shook her head to deny it. Maybe Anderson heard her hair tossing or sensed the air displacement or however the hell he did what he did because he chuckled. "Of course she doesn't have you filing reports on the psychological well-being and social lives of your coworkers. She's just concerned, right? Asks in passing how everything is going. Nothing to worry about, it's just girl talk. Mama Joan who loves us all and wants what's best for us? She is famous for her warm and caring nature. First person I'd go to if you were in trouble."
Annie froze. She had that look again; her reexamining reality looks. Jai was actually reexamining reality too. Annie flounced over to and flopped down on the couch and took a large gulp of the tequila Jai had pour her. He was right there with her but reminded himself of a few things. First his mouth had already gotten away from him once tonight. Second he had no reason to believe he was out of Anderson's dog house over stealing his staff. Third, he was a good agent but killing people with his bare hands wasn't anything he'd ever done even with his sight. The blind guy had tracked an Iraqi terrorist around the globe and put down two Russian mob guys. That was a comforting thought. Should the fact that if Auggie were a high functioning sociopath he could kill Annie and Jai and probably dispose of their bodies be listed under number three or have its own separate number?
"Jai?" Auggie said, sounding like it might have been the second or third time he'd called. Jai's grunt of response must have been enough because Auggie then asked, "you okay?"
Jai blinked and wondered, was he? The dichotomy of feelings this man provoked made his head spin without the alcohol. He'd known him for over six years, screwed him in every sense but the literal one. Placed his own life in his hands countless times and due to that was conditioned almost like Pavlov's dog to feel safe and protected when he heard his voice. So he just asked, "Are you going to kill us and hide the bodies?" He'd intended to say that, really.
Auggie beamed. Out of his peripheral vision Jai saw Annie's jaw drop and she was now out of processing mode and moving on to 'what did I miss'. Gleefully, Auggie said, "Dude, if I had known what funny drunk you were we'd of done this before."
Jai made a mental note that Anderson hadn't actually answered the question. And then figured since both of them probably already thought he was both shit faced and crazy paranoid he may as well go with that, "you didn't actually answer the question."
Annie laughed at that and maybe this wasn't going to end in some bizarre Mexican standoff because none of them had guns and the blind guy could kill people with his hands. Had; and dropped them off trains.
"Jai! It's Auggie. He's not going to kill us." She said while scooting closer to his end of the couch. She was giving him an 'isn't he an adorable drunk look. Auggie may have been giving him his version of the same look but Jai decided to rename it his serial killer smile.
Jai leaned forward toward Auggie to take a closer look at that smile, Anderson cocked his head as if listening to or for something and asked, "What?"
Murmuring, not caring if Annie could hear and knowing Auggie could he said, "still haven't answered the question."
Annie smacked his arm and Anderson's grin grew again he leaned forward until their faces were hardly a breath apart and asked in a voice that stirred things low and deep and left behind an ache, "Have you ever, or are you currently acting against the interest of the United States government? Have you ever or are you now leaking information that reveals the plans, intentions or capabilities of ourselves or our allies? Have you ever or are you now corrupting information, informants, allies or enemies against the interest of the United States government?"
"No," Jai whispered.
"Then I won't be killing you tonight Jai," Auggie said as he leaned back shaking his head. "You still think the whole blind thing is a ruse to get people to underestimate me don't you?"
"You thought that?" Annie said. Jai was so glad he'd stopped chasing her because there was no way he would get his dignity back after tonight.
"Annie?" Anderson's voice was smug and if it wasn't for the whole potential death thing Jai would have thrown a punch. Auggie certainly couldn't see if he had her attention but didn't continue until she looked towards him, "Are you sure he's wrong?"
Jai cursed in his mother's tongue because seriously, now Auggie had Annie kind of squinting at him like she wasn't sure if he were blind or not. "Stop it." Jai added.
"Stop what?" Anderson needed to drop smug mode right now.
Jai jostled him with a foot, because it kept his head and neck out of the kill zone and was hopefully perceived as nonthreatening. "Attempting to mind-fuck us, or," he said gesturing, great now he was forgetting, toward Annie, "successfully in some cases."
"I wasn't thinking that," Annie snapped. "I was trying to figure out why or how you thought that." Why the hell she was scowling at him Jai didn't know but he was surprisingly hurt when she asked, "Why are you even here? You're not friends. You don't hang out together. You say horrible things to each other's faces."
"It's the sex," Anderson said without missing a beat, "it's raw and hot and dirty."
Annie's jaw dropped and then suddenly she was choking, coughing, and after Jai handed her his undrank glass of tequila sputtering. As she pulled herself together Auggie asked innocently, "What happened? Is she okay?"
"I'll give you sex you psycho," Jai snapped as he offered Annie his handkerchief.
"That was the plan, and then Annie wanted to join in and you seemed interested so I thought, what the hell," Auggie mused.
"He's lying." Jai said before Annie could go off or blow up or whatever would occur if this situation were remotely normal.
"He doesn't seem like he's lying," Annie said looking from Auggie to Jai and back again.
"Oh please, he has half the polygraphist in the company afraid of him. Ever since he passed when he claimed he wasn't blind he keeps trying to top it. They say last time he claimed he was a trannie," Jai said and took another half assed kick at Auggie's foot because he couldn't believe the man had the balls to suggested a three way with a woman who he'd just confessed to spying on or at the very least handling in a non-handler capacity and revealed that she had been manipulated into spying on him, perhaps both of them.
"Once I proved I could pass no matter what I said, having me take it over and over is disrespectful of my time and the people depending on me. If I was committing treason do they really think it would show up on the test? I'm tired of them treating me like a bitter unstable disabled vet who could snap at any minute. If I'm that risky they should fire my ass," Auggie growled
And now Jai's mind took a detour and wondered if it hadn't been too easy to charm Annie, to get close, what if she'd been manipulated to keep an eye on him while he was observing her. Jai jerked his mind from that dark path of speculating and began to wonder how dangerous the new position he had accepted was in regard to how frequently and in what manner he would be vetted. Over the years he'd experienced jealousy over his fast track up the ladder and the back biting of rivals and those who had never been in the game. He'd also experienced the fair weather nature of contacts he'd thought of as friends only to find they only wanted him as long as he was useful.
By the time Jai pulled his thoughts back to the here and now Annie was perched on the arm of Auggie's chair and unbelievably, one hand was rubbing his neck and shoulders. Why was this woman not choking Anderson at this point? Had the oxygen to her brain been cut off? Or was the suggestion of group sex just part of the whole buddy thing they had going? Idly he wondered if these two were working him. Maybe this whole evening was an elaborate plot to break his brain. Anderson could and would do it in a heartbeat, but Annie seemed far too caring, and face it, even cold sober she could not have faked the reactions to some of the things said tonight. Jai started listening to what they were saying as opposed to ogling the whole lazy sexy sprawl and groping going on.
"Do you remember your first mission? When they needed you, and your" at this point Auggie made finger quotes, "language skills, were the reason you were called in."
"Yes," She drawled looking like she were trying to decide if she had drank enough to get away with hitting the blind guy for bringing up they needed someone who could speak Russian and pass as a call girl.
"Do you remember what Joan told you? Specifically? How you were specifically told not to sleep with the mark?" Auggie tipped his head back as if looking up at her.
"Yes," Annie's answer was hesitant almost as if she afraid it were wrong.
"Jai?" Auggie turn toward Jai and asked, "have you ever *ever* been told to *not* sleep with someone?"
Jai flash teeth in a hard grin. He knew he, as Auggie put it, 'fit the profile' his reputation as a slut was as well deserved as Anderson's. Since Auggie couldn't see him he met Annie's eyes and said, "Never."
Jai expected to see a lot of things, perhaps revulsion since Annie was an idealist but she just looked sad.
Auggie stood carefully. Not so much due to how much he had to drink but more due to the fact Annie was still hanging on him as he did it. Her one arm was behind him and the other slung across his chest, she wasn't tall enough without shoes to put her head on his shoulder so she was plaster to his side. Jai watched a frown start to form and then smooth out from Anderson's face. It could have been either concentration or irritation but was gone so quickly he'd barely caught it. Auggie widened his stance slightly, bent at the knees and used one arm to lift Annie. Her legs wrapped around Auggie's waist and his hand supported her under her ass. She laid her head on his shoulder and gave a pleased sigh.
Anderson turned and prowled toward the bedroom. Jai really didn't want to sleep on the couch if those two were going to get loud, and who was he kidding, of course, they were going to get loud. He checked his watch. Getting a cab in DC at 3:30 AM on a Sunday morning was possible. He looked up from his watch to see Auggie had stopped at the end of the kitchen area. He was half turned back, the side with Annie mounted on him toward the bedroom, his eye's closed and head cocked, listening intently. Auggie lifted his free hand, open and palm up toward Jai and said, "C'mon, Jai," and the voice that could seduce a nun was back, "what'er you waiting for."
"You know," Annie's words drifted to him despite being nuzzled into Anderson's ear, "I don't think we had his full attention."
Jai wasn't going to wait to be asked twice and was up and had taken that strong hand before she finished. Auggie pulled until he was flush against them and then Annie was kissing Jai deep and sloppy. Jai hadn't even realized Auggie had released his hand until he felt a draft as his trousers dropped to the floor. Jai broke away from kissing Annie to turn an incredulous look on the blind man, before rolling his eyes at how wasted it was.
"How did you do that?" He rasped as Auggie grasped his waist with his free hand to start herding him toward the bed.
"They taught it in occupational and life skills at rehab," Auggie said pushing him onto the bed and almost literally handed him Annie.
Jai and Annie watched as Auggie skimmed out of his clothes while saying, "Remember the more people in the bed, the more important knowing where knees and elbows are at all time. Annie, balls, while fun for all should be kept away from said knees and elbows."
And then Anderson was everywhere. He slipped Annie out of her slacks and blouse in seconds during one hot and dirty kiss. Jai had been watching and almost missed it. Jai became aware of the last of his own clothes being removed when he broke a kiss with Annie as Auggie lifted his undershirt over his head. He turned his head to see where it landed when Anderson threw it only to find himself dominated by a deep demanding kiss. Kissing Auggie was much different than kissing Annie. Where she was soft and yielding and playful, he was hard, demanding and competitive.
It was as if Anderson was out to prove how well deserved his reputation was. Jai found himself spread out; breathless and wondering just whose hands were where but in no way wanting them to stop. "You guys look so hot doing that." Annie's voice was breathless. They broke the kiss to look over at her, or at least Jai was looking at her. She was lying along his other side, raised on one elbow, one hand supporting her head, the fingers of her other hand were idly tracing the trail of dark hair running down from Jai's navel. She added as if the thought had just occurred to her, "Auggie, did you plan this?"
"Yes," he replied without missing a beat and producing a condom packet, seemingly from thin air.
"Liar," she said taking the packet from him and opening it. Anderson was maneuvering him onto his side, which would result in Jai facing Annie. While that in itself was a good think it would also mean Jai would have his back to the psycho who had somehow orchestrated all this.
Not that he expected a straight answer, but he was curious and you never knew Anderson just might give him the truth simply because he knew it wouldn't be believed. He was a bastard like that. So as he leaned back against the chest of the man behind him and fell those oh, so skilled hands sliding down his body, Jai asked, "When did you decide this was going to happen?"
Auggie stopped sucking the spot on Jai's collarbone and murmured, "Shortly before I said, 'Annie, meet my 'friend' Jai Wilcox'."
End
For those of you not lucky enough to be fans of Shane MacGowan and The Pogues here are the lyrics to 'Rake at the Gates of Hell'.
I'll be with them asleep or dreaming
I'll be there when they wake up screaming
at the hour of death I will nurse them
to have a moment more to curse them
watch the maggots crawl out of them
hear the angels call above them
watch them as the cold air sucks them
down to hell good night good luck
then if any should escape above me
beg and cheat until they trust me
drag them down to be damned with me
laugh at them as they forgive me
Mother's eyes are sparking diamonds
still the moon shows no likeness
roses wither may god deliver
the rake at the gates of hell tonight
I wish that they could walk forever
on the earth alone unfettered
until they pray for consummation
until they beg for sweat damnation
then I'll come and bring them water
bring them hope, bring them laughter
raise their hopes both sad and sunken
slash them up as they lie there drunken
push them down into the foul mud
until they choke up on their own blood
drag them out before their last breath
to take away the mercy of death
Mother's eyes are sparking diamonds
still the moon shows no likeness
roses wither may god deliver
the rake at the gates of hell tonight
Author's Note Addendum: part of me wanted to continue both because what story isn't brightened up by a few pages of sheer porn and because that the encounter would be rough and raw and punctuated with insight, cutting truths and advice on surviving in a world where 'mentors turn out to be jerks; and jerks turn out to be mentors'. Not saying it won't be written someday but for now this is a one shot.