A/N: What makes me write for the first time in three months? Only the reappearance of Oded Fehr which I've been waiting for since the beginning of season 4 and now that I've had it, I feel cheated. Three minutes!? That's cruel. So I created a slightly longer reunion between our two favorites. There's some actual dialogue from the episode but for the most part, it's all me. Also, just because I can, I imagined a slightly more interesting season 4 backstory for Eyal.
Obviously spoilers for 4x10, Levitate Me.
Disclaimer: I don't own them or Oded Fehr would find much more use. Please take note, Matt Corman, Chris Ord.
Waking up, Annie feels like she had been drowning and tries to breathe through the water in her lungs; there is no air and her whole trachea seems to be covered in sandpaper. Her breath escapes in short puffs but she senses a presence next to her and it alerts her to a possible danger. She prepares to fight, even if her physical condition is nowhere ready for it.
"You look terrible."
The voice is familiar, the cadence of it soothing and Annie wants to laugh or cry or do anything but her breath is still stuck in her throat and she only manages to croak a quick reply.
"I feel terrible."
She can't get her eyes to focus just quite but the mere knowledge that Eyal is there is enough to make her feel safe. She takes the water he offers, and it soothes her until she feels a bit more like herself again and notices the lack of something in the van.
"We're here alone. It worked?"
"After all the times we've had, how could you have any doubts?"
He jokes and it's so comforting, so acutely familiar. Annie feels a wave of affection rush over her, feels the gravity of what's been done – though it's not quite settling in yet – and knows the only answer she could have.
"I never had any doubt. I trust you with my life."
She smiles and then lets it morph into a true, honest expression. If he's surprised, he downplays it and offers her one of his best smiles, a bit cheeky with a hint of the same affection she's feeling.
"Clearly."
He opens the door and makes a move to get out; Annie tries to follow but her legs are still a bit uncooperative and her head spins. She takes a step and nearly stumbles, face first onto the pavement but he catches her, steadying her on her feet.
"Hey, neshema, do not rush. I know you're anxious to get going but coming back from the dead isn't all that. Sit down."
He guides her to sit on the edge of the van's door and stands in front of her, eyes quickly scanning the area to detect any sign of trouble or danger. He's on high alert, she can tell; they might've made it and joked about it always working out but she remembers plenty of times they've escaped on the knife's edge. The last thing she wants to do is bring him down with her.
"So, how have you been? Still causing trouble, I see?"
He jokes but his eyes are serious, with a hint of worry. She doesn't know how much he knows.
"Something like that. It's just...such a mess. How did you know to be here?"
"It appears we have a mutual friend who knew to get in contact with me."
"Auggie."
He smiles. "No. Joan."
Now Annie's really surprised. "Joan? I didn't know you were friends."
"It's more of a mutual appreciation, if you would. She sent word you were in need of a friend and well – here I am."
She gives him a curious look, not buying the expression of innocence he so carefully tries to convey.
"Wait, when did she the time to do that? I'm not sure Joan even knows I would be here; I've only been in contact with Auggie."
Eyal doesn't reply but shrugs and it clicks for her. "You're not here for this mission, are you? How long have you been keeping tabs on me?"
He smiles unapologetically and makes a sweeping gesture with his hands. "I wouldn't call it keeping tabs, exactly. More like looking out for you."
"Since Colombia?"
He shakes his head. "No, not that soon."
"I can't believe my boss asked you to spy on me." She is vaguely irritated and tries to walk away once more but her feet still won't carry her and she barely manages to take two steps before her knees buckle. And of course, he's still there to catch her and she feels annoyed with the double meaning of that. He's always there for her, ready to catch at a moment's notice. It's safe but she's also a bit upset she had no idea he's been present in her life.
"Since when?" She refuses to sit down and Eyal resorts to holding her by the shoulders, not bothering to even try and push her down. He's unwavering under her gaze but she knows her current situation will make him cave. And soon enough, he sighs and his shoulders slump in surrender.
"Since Vienna."
"So since Stavros. But why?"
"You needed a friend and since you were cut off from Auggie, you needed someone."
"But you didn't do anything."
"You just didn't see me."
Annie rewinds that mission in her head, counting down the moments he could've interfered. "So, when Stavros tried to shoot me at the river?"
"I was there. My orders were to protect you if necessary but to never expose your cover. A spy who is burned is no good."
She gives him an annoyed look. "Your orders? What about when I went to see him and Teo Braga showed up?"
"I was across the street, behind a sniper rifle. I was informed Braga wouldn't be a threat – though I disagreed with that assessment – and so I stood down."
"So, basically you're a silent bodyguard I didn't know I needed?"
He smirks. "If you prefer to think of me like that."
Her mind reels from all the revelations. She died, she was revived, she met Eyal again who had been following her thread for weeks and she isn't sure what her feelings are doing. Just a few moments again she was relieved to see his face but she isn't certain what to make of this situation.
"Annie." She raises her eyes to his and sees some real emotion; sees fear and worry and relief and affection. "I'm always going to protect you, whether you're aware of it or not. I'm your friend."
Despite trying to feel justifiably angry, she finds herself smiling. "I know." And it's forgiven.
She feels the night air chilling around them and takes a quick look around, confident that her head manages to stay clear and clears her throat.
"I think I'm good to go now, actually."
"Are you sure? Try walking."
He releases her shoulders and she feels a bit adrift but manages to put one foot in front of the other and not fall over. There is a slight trembling coming over her and Eyal notices her hands as she tries to control them.
"Adrenaline; it's the aftershock. Your body is realizing what has happened and isn't quite sure how to cope. It'll wear off, don't worry. Just relax into it."
Annie listens to his voice and tries to do so but the trembling increases; her muscles tense and she feels shortness of breath again. It feels like a heart attack and she knows it must be a panic attack; knows on an intellectual basis and can't do anything to stop it. Her back is to Eyal and he can't see her face and she doesn't want to need him but she does.
"Eyal..." She whispers out his name and doesn't think he heard because she doesn't hear any sounds over the blood rushing in her ears but she becomes aware of his hands – and they really seem to be touching her tonight, don't they? - and the same familiar cadence of his voice that brought her back the first time.
"Shh, it's okay. Listen to my voice, Annie. Breathe, in and out, in and out..." His voice pulls her back in and she manages to listen to the instructions and feels her breath even out and regulate. Her head clears with sharpness she isn't expecting and every sense is heightened. Even through the layers of clothes, his hands are warm and comforting and his smell slowly penetrates her awareness. All the sensations are familiar and they make a sudden and unwelcome longing rise up in her which she tries to quell by stepping away from him.
"Okay. Now I'm ready."
He gives her a skeptical look as she turns around and she manages a smile. "No, really. I feel fine."
"If you say so."
He takes a bag from the van and rattles off the things she would need. She's barely paying any attention, rifling through the bag until an unknown word catches her attention.
"A what?"
"It's Israeli chakra."
And of course it is; designed to protect her and keep her safe, probably, and she smiles at this reminder of how serious Eyal is about his culture – and how he always tries to infuse her with it. He's constantly dropping these little nuggets and she thoroughly enjoys them, enjoys the idea that he cares enough to put every effort into protecting her, whether it be a gun or a good luck charm.
He gives her a fond smile in return and then turns away from her, having clearly just remembered something. As he turns back, there is a folder in his hands and it heightens Annie's curiosity.
"This is a Mossad file for Sana Wilcox."
She takes it, bewildered at the lengths to which he would go and some lost memory nudges at her to make itself known. A Mossad file. How can it be a Mossad file in his hands?
"Mossad. I thought you quit the Mossad."
"Why would you ever think that, neshema?"
It's the second time he calls her that but the first time she's lucid enough to really acknowledge it and it brings back all her memories of their times before it all turned to hell and their last conversation in Amsterdam.
He fascinates her at every turn but at this point, she knows he can't be both at once; he can't work with Joan and for Mossad, so there must be something he's not saying but they don't have the time, so she falls back on their familiar banter. "I bet you never even owned a boat, did you?"
"Didn't even get out of Europe. Mossad's not very big on vacations."
He doesn't give her the chance to dwell on that, to make him give an honest answer about whether he works for the Mossad or not because he couldn't be here if he really still worked there.
"So, is this really the end of Annie Walker?"
He asks it with careless charm but she sees the emotions really running all over his face and takes the first moment in this whole scheme to really hear that said out loud. The end of Annie Walker. It's been her life for 31 years and now she will give it up and she will stop being Annie Walker because one man has to be stopped. But damned if that man is going to get away with everything.
"Yes." It's filled with conviction and she sees him nod, as if in agreement. The doubts are still running around in her head but she knows that this is the way and if her heart hurts because of this choice, then so be it.
She fiddles with her bag to give her something to do and to give Eyal the chance to disappear, as he always does. But instead he surprises her, stepping forward to take her shoulders once more and looks deeply into her eyes.
"It gives me great pleasure to be the last one to ever tell you this."
For a moment, a small, wild, insane moment, she fears what he will say, fears that he will reveal a sentiment she has never let herself think from him – but has suspected – and that moment of absolute, exhilarating, terrifying fear flutters inside her. An even smaller part of her wishes for that sentiment.
"You're an amazing woman, Annie."
She lets out a breath of relief, which feels a bit like disappointment if she's honest with herself – but chooses not be. And instead focuses on him, on his warmth and the affection he can exude with one sentence and tries to remember his face as good as she can because she isn't sure when she'll see it again.
"I can't thank you enough." And she means for everything, from the beginning to this point – Zurich, Paris, D.C., Israel, Russia, Khalid –, for all the times he was there and she knew and, as it turns out, for all the times she had no idea.
"Thank me next time. Wherever you'll be."
He means together and safe and alive and when he says it, Annie knows it will happen because this can't be the last time they'll meet and she's so overcome with emotion that she lurches forward and he meets her halfway in a hug.
It's a desperate hug, a bit frantic from them both but she tries to hold on to him as tightly as she can for fear of losing everything, in hope of grounding herself and in the knowledge that she isn't alone and as long as he's out there, she'll never be alone. Annie closes her eyes and remembers this moment, remembers it for the times to come when she'll have no one and believes that she will come back.
He lets go of her and they share one last look. He is almost too much in that moment, the weight of his hand on her shoulder, slightly caressing it and she feels a sudden and yet utter need to stay and not leave because she knows he would never let any harm fall on her. Eyal must feel it too because his hand slightly pushes her away with a whispered Go. She turns with one final look and walks away, a conversation they once had echoing in a memory she hasn't revisited since, knowing that it's all the strength she'll need.
"Timing is everything, neshema. But one day, you and I will be sitting somewhere, looking at the sunset, thinking of nothing at all. Maybe not this boat in Greece but one day. And that will be a lovely evening."
"I hope so."
A/N: Please leave a review, no matter if you liked it or didn't!
[EDIT]: So, I suppose Eyal actually says "It's Israeli chocolate", as one reviewer pointed out but I'm keeping the chakra because I created a whole thing around it.