Mask: Legacy Saga Interlude II: Weapons of Choice
A dark time of year for Annie Turner provokes a fight and an philosophical query into the existence of alternate universes while revealing what happened behind the scenes in Episode 7: The Ultimate Weapon.
Author's Note: The Ultimate Weapon has always been one of my favorite and most frustrating MASK episodes, because it left this burning question unanswered: "What prompted Brad to suddenly return to the battlefield and save the day?" Hopefully this story of my answer will entertain you.
Special thanks need to go out to Zarius and Miratete-Your MASK universe, so different from mine and Lisa's, was the catalyst for prompting the beginning of this story and creating the Annie/Brad and Annie/Scott drama/interaction that I needed.
Special thanks as always to co-writer Lisa L for proofreading and the Roxy/Annie infighting that also helped the start of this story along.
Thanks to dshortklutz, my dear Annie fan, as well as Susan and all the other reviewers. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own Annie. Nobody else.
** Chapter 1 **
Upon being introduced to her first hangover, Annie Turner vowed never to drink like that again. One green eye reluctantly cracked open to find a glass of orange juice and bottle of aspirin sitting on the nightstand in her old bedroom. The other eye quickly followed when her nose picked up the reek of stale, musty alcohol that she'd smelled a million times in her career but never dreamed of smelling on herself.
Annie rolled over onto her back and covered her eyes with her hands, groaning, "What the hell was I thinking?"
She sat up and downed two aspirin with the orange juice to soothe her pounding head, then stumbled into the private bathroom Brad had attached to her bedroom years ago.
Twenty minutes later she stepped out of the shower and got dressed, feeling clean and very slightly more human. She grabbed the empty orange juice glass and let her nose lead her down to the kitchen where her father Brad was hard at work on breakfast. He flipped an omelette over and looked up at her approach.
"There's more orange juice in the refrigerator. I'll brew some coffee in a minute."
Annie pulled the orange juice out and poured another glass before sitting down at the kitchen table.
"Scott was worried and called here looking for you. I told him you'd be home this afternoon."
She looked up to see Brad very obviously smirking as he started the coffee and plated out breakfast.
"Thanks Dad, I'm glad you find this so amusing."
"I find the idea of you fighting with your boyfriend and running to your old man's house to get drunk somewhat amusing." Brad set a plate down in front of her. "You owe me a bottle of Jack by the way."
"I'm not talking to Jack anymore," Annie stated firmly. "He takes me down roads that I shouldn't be on."
Brad sat down across from her. "Like an philosophical road trip questioning the existence of alternate universes where Vanessa and I are married with kids and you and Scott aren't together because you never existed?"
Annie poked her omelette with a fork, realizing how ridiculous that sounded now that she was sober. "Something like that."
They ate the rest of their breakfast in companionable silence and tagged teamed the dishes before sitting down in the living room on Brad's couch. Annie held her previously promised cup of coffee while leaning carefully against her father's shoulder.
"It's not like you to turn to the bottle, Annie," Brad said with a twinge of seriousness. "You wanna talk about what happened?"
Annie took a sip of coffee and sighed. "Roxanne called Scott last night with some 'emergency' right as we were just about to sit down to dinner. I swear she does that on purpose any time we get the smallest bit of quality time together. And he of course rushed off to rescue the damsel in distress, completely forgetting the whole reason for dinner and why I take vacation this time of year. It just makes me so angry because he knows that this is a hard time of year for me. He knows I specifically take this time of year off because it's the anniversary of that god awful accident between you and Gloria. He knows I like to be here with family and that dinner was special because we NEVER get any significant quality time. Yet there he goes, running off and taking it all, and me, for granted."
Brad nodded sympathetically as soundless verification passed between the two of them. The forced collision between Condor and Shark that left Gloria Baker hospitalized on that god awful mission to destroy VENOM's Ultimate Weapon would always be fresh in their minds at this time, no matter how many years passed in between. Annie always took vacation from the Rangers that entire week so that she could be with the ones she loved the most during these dark days. Most of the week consisted of much needed quality time with Scott, but the day of the accident, which happened to be today, was always reserved for Brad. He and Annie always "planned" some spontaneous random activity to get away from it all on that day, but this year was turning out to be an epic failure, making a hung over Annie feel even worse.
"After Scott left, I went on a cleaning rampage to vent my anger and found some old pictures of him with some girl in New Zealand on some really old MASK mission and I snapped." Annie set her coffee mug down so she could turn and look at Brad. "I mean really snapped Dad...I ripped the pictures out and tossed them and several other photo albums all across our living room in a jealous fit. All I could think about was how many other girls he 'had' in however many other countries...so I left him a note telling him that if he didn't care to be with me, he could just go find one of them and left the place looking like some crazed photographer lived there."
"That explains the phone call this morning then."
"What did Scott say?"
"He was a little worried about your state of mind. I was too last night."
Annie felt a flush rising in her cheeks. "How bad was it?"
"You're just a very philosophical drunk and you watch too many Science Fiction movies. You should be focusing on what's going on in this life, instead of borrowing trouble from some other fictitious alternate existence. Especially one where Vanessa and I are married with children." Brad paused and let out a small chuckle, "She's not the type."
"I know it's ridiculous," Annie lamented. "And my stupid drunken binge ruined any plans we had for today."
"Apparently making you feel better IS the plan," Brad chuckled again, pulling her close. "And pumpkin, the only universe that matters to me is the one with you in it. I was scared to death when you came into my life, but now I can't picture it without you. Focusing on you has gotten me through more hard times than I care to remember. I honestly don't know what I would do without you."
Annie didn't answer, choosing instead to quietly snuggle up against him, which was always the universal solution when things got rough. Brad hugged her tightly and let his mind drift back in time to her and that roughest of rough times...