"I can hear you hovering," Auggie quipped.
Annie started; she hadn't noticed Joan leave the courtyard, though she must have passed right by her.
"Oh, right. Hey Auggie," she said, coming to take Joan's vacated place on the bench. "So, it's rough wearing the stilettos, huh?" Annie joked, bumping his shoulder with her own.
"You laugh, but it's harder than it looks; particularly when you have to control a headstrong young agent intent on thumbing her nose at death by going four against one to rescue a charismatic Mossad operative," he shot back with just a hint of bitterness.
She was quiet.
"Jesus, Annie, what is it with you? It's like… a hero complex or something. Eyal is Mossad, for god's sake, he can take care of himself. Why didn't you just get yourself out of there?!"
Annie looked shocked. "But you, you helped me plan the whole thing. You authorized it!" she replied, confused.
"Well yeah, but that doesn't change anything. It was still foolish."
Annie was getting angry now. "Why?! It's not like you ordered me home! You wanted me to stay in the field, didn't you? With Eyal, we had the picture, without, the whole mission was a bust!"
That did it; Auggie stood up and turned to walk away.
"No! Don't you just turn your back on me now!" Annie yelled, stepping after him.
Auggie turned once more to face her and replied with an almost icy calm, "Don't you see, Annie? I didn't turn my back on you, I never have. What, did you think I was just gonna let you go in there, engine roaring, all by yourself? You know that's what would've happened, even if I had ordered you home. You wouldn't have listened. You would have been down in seconds, and I couldn't live with that. If that's really what you think I would have done, you are sorely mistaken and should probably ask Joan about being assigned a new handler," and with that, he stalked off.
"Shit!" Annie moaned, slumping back down onto the bench. "Shit. Shit, shit, SHIT!"
After a few deep breaths Annie realized that if she was going to fix this, she would have to catch Auggie before he left the building. Getting to her feet, she rushed through the door. Tech ops was empty, he must have already packed up. Swiping her bag from off her desk she ran toward the front doors.
She was just getting into the lobby as he was exiting the building. "Auggie!" she called. "Wait!"
He just kept walking. Running, Annie caught up to him and grabbed his arm. "Wait!" she said again, this time adding a quiet "Please?"
He stopped walking but didn't turn to face her.
She took a breath. "I was an asshole."
He nodded, "Yup."
Annie sighed, "I was an asshole and I overreacted, I'm sorry. I know you were just doing your job and trying to keep me safe. I understand that. I also know that I don't exactly make it easy for you a lot of the time, and I'm sorry for that. But I couldn't just leave him there. That's just… not how I work. I couldn't do it. Thank you for helping me get us both out of there alive, even though it may have been against your better judgment. Thank you for getting me out alive from every single mission we've done together. It means the world and I couldn't ask for a better handler or friend."
He sighed, "Apology accepted, and you're welcome."
Annie sighed in relief. "So we're good?"
He smiled in return, "We're good."
She was still gripping his arm so she used it as leverage to turn him around and hug him tight.
"I'm glad, I don't know what I'd do without my best friend," she whispered into his collar.
He just smiled softly and hugged her in return; this woman would be the death of him one day.
