As pleased as Joan was that Annie had finally taken a holiday, she wished that it hadn't been in Guam with Ben Mercer. But she was due back today, which thankfully meant she was out from his reach.
"When you two are done chitchatting there is actual work to be done." Joan called as she saw Annie and Auggie standing together by her desk. "Annie, my office."
She sat Annie on the couch, perching next to her and feeling more awkward than she had in a while.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Good. Happy to be back." Annie smiled, nodding while obviously wondering why Joan had bought her there.
"You know, a lot of operatives would need time to decompress after what you've been through."
"Not me. I'm good." Annie assured her. Joan looked unconvinced. "Seriously."
Joan nodded, standing and quickly explaining to Annie her new mission. After all, if it were her, she'd want to throw herself back into work.
And throw herself back into work Annie did. In the space of two days she caused more trouble and paperwork for Joan than her other operatives had in the three weeks Annie had been away. Joan was trying to forget those last couple of days when the doorbell rang and she opened it to reveal the woman causing her so much trouble.
"Annie." Surprised, Joan looked her quizzically.
"I'm sorry. I'm probably breaking CIA regulations by coming to your house and this is over the line on about nine other levels but I literally… didn't know who else to talk to." Annie apologised, studying Joan's face in preparation for an outburst. Joan leant back to shut the door behind her and stepped out.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Do you know what happened to Ben?" Annie questioned abruptly. Realisation flashed through Joan, and she shifted uncomfortably. "I need to know."
"I understand that this is hard for you. And what I think will make it a little easier is if you separate you feelings for Ben and think of him as an asset. Ben would represent a high-risk, high-reward individual- does that make sense?" Joan chose her words carefully.
"I think so."
"So on a human level, what that means is that as exhilarating as your time is with Ben, when he goes missing or does something duplicitous you have to accept that. There are always going to be questions with Ben."
Annie smiled sadly. "I'm beginning to see that."
"And as for your original question? I think you're a strong enough operative now to intuit my response."
"Well the fact that you didn't directly answer my question means you know where he is. And the fact that you're not yelling at me means he's probably safe?" Annie made it into a question. Joan smiled cryptically.
"See you at the office Annie." She disappeared inside her home, leaving Annie to interpret that. She closed the door and leant her back on it, feelings swirling inside her. She was glad Annie felt she could trust her, but seeing her out of the blue like that had unsettled Joan and bought up feelings she normally forced down.
"Joan?" she heard Arthur calling from the kitchen. She shook herself off, mentally scolding herself. Annie had simply come to her boss and she was reading too much into it, Joan told herself. But the happy feeling inside her remained.
She stood in her office a few days later, watching Annie with trepidation.
"You've got that look."
"What look?"
"The look every female operative gets the first time I send her to Paris." Joan watched Annie suspiciously, humour dancing in her eyes. She listened to Annie reel off the facts of her mission and conceded the point, suppressing the laugh that threatened when she saw Annie's expression in the mirror on the way out. She shook her head amusedly, and started getting ready for jury service.
Joan sipped from her wine that night, lost in her latest book until the ringing of a phone roused her. She quickly determined it was Arthur's and turned back to her book, trying to pick up where she left off but the conversation she could hear distracted her. She placed the wine on the table and walked to the doorway of the kitchen, frowning as she listened.
"No, I don't care! Yes… I will handle it! No, don't bother. I'll do it." Arthur hung up angrily, turning and jumping as he saw Joan in the doorway.
"Oh. I was just coming to get you." He said.
"What was that about?"
"We have a problem. Is Annie on anything at the moment?" he slid a hand around her waist.
"No… why?" she looked at him suspiciously.
"We're sending her back to the farm." She blinked, and frowned.
Joan walked through the hospital corridors a couple of hours later, eyes searching through the glass walls for Annie. She almost had a heart attack when instead, she found Danielle hugging her daughter. She met Annie's eyes, saw the recognition in them and kept walking, the image of her little sisters and nieces burned into her brain.
In a moment of weakness, she'd used her clearance to find information on Danielle and her family when Annie's file had first crossed her desk. She'd felt guilty, but hadn't been able to tear her eyes from the photo she'd found in there. It was a family one, with the four of Danielle's direct family piled on the couch, limbs entangled and smiles on their faces. Behind it, one of Annie and Danielle rested, their arms wound around each other as they each grinned at the other. They looked happy.
It was those two photos that helped cement Joan's decision not to tell Annie who she really was.
Joan walked through the DPD a few days later, quickly spotting Annie at Auggie's desk, head bent as they laughed together.
"Annie." She got both the operatives attentions. "When I said 'catch the mole', I didn't mean literally in mid-air after being thrown from a plane." She raised an eyebrow as she leant against the doorway. Annie looked sheepish.
"Trust me, it was not intentional!" she said, elbowing Auggie in the ribs when he chuckled.
"I should hope not." Joan levered herself from the doorframe, giving a small smile to the woman. "Good job Annie."
"Thanks." Joan left the two of them to it and heard their laughter from behind her as she walked away before she checked her watch and realised it was past time to meet Arthur.
A few days later, Joan was back to ranting about her younger sister.
"It was a simple exchange. Just a simple exchange. Five minutes, maximum. How the hell does Annie end up as a fugitive in Argentina with an assassin on her tail!?" Joan exclaimed, pacing up and down her husbands office. She was still mad at him, but he fact he was her boss meant she couldn't avoid him forever.
"It'll work out Joan." He soothed.
"How?! Jesus Arthur, how does she manage to get herself in these situations?" she rubbed her hand over her hair.
"What has the Italian government said?" Arthur asked, reaching for her. She sidestepped him deftly, shooting him a look.
"I've got a meeting at two. My guess is we're being played- what happens in it will confirm it." Joan explained.
"Er… Joan? It's already one-fifty…" Arthur pointed out hesitantly. Joan glanced at the clock.
"Crap!"
A while later, Joan felt fury run ice cold through her veins as she stared down Jorge over the video link.
"Do not think your actions will not have deep consequences." She threatened, stepping closer to the screen. She smiled as she saw his shoulders slump in defeat, heard Auggie's exhale behind her.
"What do you want me to do, Joan?" Jorge asked, resigned. Joan smiled coldly.
She didn't see Annie as much after that- caught up with Arthur and his legal battle, every spare minute went towards prepping for the upcoming meetings and the only time she had contact with her sister was during briefings and when she needed something.
"What do you see?" Auggie asked her just over a week later. She relayed the information with a sinking heart, stomach churning as she watched Annie and Reva be led out of camera shot at gunpoint.
"I have a better idea." She told Auggie when he suggested the agents from St. Petersburg, quickly walking away and leaving him completely bemused.
Hours later, she strode into the conference room.
"How much are they asking?" she demanded.
"The Bela-Russians' command demand sixty million dollars for Annie and Reva's safe return. It's couched as 'urgent economic aid' but we all know what that means. It'll go straight into the pockets of the secret police."
"Mmhm." Agreed Joan, more concerned with Annie's welfare. "Nevertheless, how quickly can we send the money?"
"We can set up an untraceable account and wire it-"
"Joan- before we get to that, what were your people even doing there?" Joan looked at him quizzically.
"We were putting eyes on an extremely porous border. We suspect large caches of weapons have been travelling across it from central Asia to Europe." Joan told him, leaning forward slightly as she tried to figure out his game.
"I just wish you'd given us a heads up- the state department could have worked with you on this."
"So is that why you're dragging your heels? Because we didn't read you in?" Joan smiled as he showed his hand. It never quite reached her eyes.
"No. it's just that we would strongly prefer to wire the funds as a last resort."
"My operatives have been captured. In your view, what does a last resort look like?" Joan asked incredulously.
"It's what happens after diplomacy fails, but we haven't tried yet! One of my under secretaries can go to Minsk…"
"We don't have time for diplomacy! Pay the money!" she waited fro a response. "If you're not comfortable with that I can send an extraction team."
"A military presence would be even more problematic." He said pompously.
"So you're telling me that the state department is not permitting me to pursue either option to bring my people home!?"
The two men exchanged a glance. "Give me two days. If negotiations aren't successful then we'll send the funds."
"And you can guarantee me my officers' safety until that time?" Joan raised her eyebrows.
"Joan, I have all my available resources on this. We take this situation very seriously, I assure you."
"I don't want your assurances. I want my people safe." Joan told him curtly, walking out without another word. She was suddenly very glad she'd already sent Jai in.
1980
"Joanie?" Jack McKenzie poked his head through her door. She looked at him inquiringly. "Have you seen Rosie?"
"No. Should I have?" She frowned slightly, placing her book on the bed beside her.
"I don't know." Her dad answered distractedly, disappearing from view. Joan scrambled to her feet and darted after him as he tore through the house, calling Rosie's name.
"Mama? What's wrong, where's Rosie?" Joan demanded, spotting the older blonde cradling a month old Annie to her chest in the kitchen.
"Nothing love. Take Dani, and go to your room." She nodded to the three year old. Obediently, Joan grasped her younger sisters hand and led her upstairs, helping her onto the bed and giving her some pens and paper before creeping back to the top of the stairs.
"Where is she, Jack?" She heard her mother sob.
"I'm going to find her, ok? Just stay here, look after the girls and I'll bring her back." Her father comforted his wife, before vanishing out the door. Joan bit her lip as she realised her sister had obviously run away, glancing over her shoulder to where Dani sat happily colouring.
Making a decision, she silently inched her way downstairs and ran out the door, sprinting down the road to the wooded park where she and Rosie often played. Easily, she jumped through the thick undergrowth down the familiar overgrown path until she found herself at the old oak tree.
"Rosie! Rosie, are you here?!" She hollered at the top of her voice. She cocked her head, listening intently.
"Joanie?"
Joan sighed in relief as she saw Rosie's tear streaked face peek over a branch about half way up.
"Rosie, come down from there!" She called up. The younger girl let out a sob.
"I can't!"
"Why not?" Joan aside, confused.
"I'm stuck! Joanie, help me!" Rosie's voice rose, and Joan sighed slightly but began to climb. She scaled the tree easily, landing on the branch which Rosie clung to.
"Come on." Carefully, Joan climbed down ahead of her and directed her feet to the right places until they were both safely on the ground. Rosie immediately flung her arms around her older sister, refusing to let go.
"C'mon, hop on." Joan bent her knees so that Rosie could jump onto her back. She did so, and Joan cautiously began the trek out of forest, Rosie safely on her back. She sped up when they reached the street, jogging home. She spotted her parents standing on the street as she got closer and let Rosie off her back.
"Rosie, Joanie!" Her mother sobbed, rush forwards and enfolding them both in a hug.
"Oof." Joan gasped for breathe. "Mum! Can't breath!"
"Sorry love." She loosened her grip, plucking Rosie off her feet and giving her a thwack to the backside. "Don't you ever do that again!" She scolded, before wrapping her in another hug. Joan watched them, jumping when she felt her fathers hand on her back.
"Good job, beautiful. You're a great big sister." He murmured. She beamed at him.
Present day
A day later, Joan stood in front of her team and explained the information they'd got, thankful once again that Annie had come back safely.
"Our case officers should be very proud of their good work." She said pointedly, smiling. Annie grinned while Reva ducked her head in embarrassment. Joan disappeared into her office, a wave of relief crashing over now that she'd seen Annie with her own eyes. Jai's radio transmission just wasn't enough.
Joan wandered through the DPD that weekend, coffee clasped in both hands. She grinned as she heard loud beeping coming from Annie's computer and saw the spooked look on her face.
"Something wrong?" she asked kindly.
"No. I'm just doing some cleanup and it says that a file has been removed." She explained. Understanding flashed across Joan's face.
"It's tough without Auggie around." She felt her lips twitch.
"Yeah. This is weird. I'll figure it out."
"Did you check the file tree?" she suggested. Annie looked blank.
"File tree?"
"Every file that it connected with another shares the same record, so if something's been removed you can check the ones around it." Explained Joan.
"Oh. Great, thanks!"
"Sure." Joan smiled at her, before turning to go back to the pile of paperwork waiting for. She wondered how long it would take Annie to work out how to check the other files.
She was fiddling with her disorganised files when she heard a knock at the door.
"Yeah, Annie. What is it?" she asked distractedly, barely glancing up.
"I hope it's not a bad time…"
"Actually, I'm having a terrible day. My computer crashed- again- so unless you can fix a motherboard or have some good news it's a pretty bad time."
"I can't fix a computer, and I don't have good news but… I do need your help." Joan felt worry flash through her but hid it.
"What is it Annie?"
"I've been working on something for Auggie. He asked me to confirm that a certain Iraqi terrorist was dead which was a small favour that turned into a not-so-small favour when I walked into the FBI investigation of the man." Annie fiddled with her dress as she braced herself for the oncoming storm.
Joan stared at her, dropping the files she was holding onto the desk. "You did what?"
"I have a strong feeling that Auggie has located him in Istanbul and is now attempting to track and kill the man on his own." Annie tried to convey her urgency without pushing Joan too far.
"What makes you think that?" Joan asked, confusion showing through the worry she was trying to hide.
"He said he needed to be in another town by four. But the jazz festival never leaves Istanbul. And the only thing in the town is a little airport, and the only thing scheduled to leave the airport at four is a cargo plane headed for Lima. Joan, he doesn't sound like himself. I think something is really wrong."
"Who's the terrorist?" Joan asked, worried. She cursed when Annie told her.
"Dammit Auggie!"
"Do you know who that is? Do you know why Auggie would try to track him?" Annie asked. Joan sighed.
Hours later she stood by and watched tensely as the feds picked up their terrorist and drove away. A second passed, then two. Three, four, five.
And Auggie stepped from the plane. Joan felt relief wash though her and exchanged a smile with Annie, who looked the same way. He was safe, and home. Now Joan had to go and try to explain to border control how a man who had left the country was back in it without crossing passport control.
When she first heard Megan had been taken a few weeks later, her immediate reaction was uncertainty. While the sister in her didn't want Annie anywhere near a potentially deadly hostage situation, the boss in her knew Annie was the most talented operative she'd seen and was probably the best person for the job. Because honestly, a petite blonde news reporter didn't look anything like a spy.
1991
"Hi. Are you Joan?" Joan looked up from her bed to see a young honey blonde in front of her.
"Er... Yeah." She put the clothes she'd been folding to one side.
"Oh good! I'm Megan, I'm your roommate." Megan came into the room, dragging a bag behind her.
"Nice to meet you." Joan smiled warmly.
"Ooh, is the new James Patterson? I love his books!" Megan spotted the book on her bed.
"Me too! Actually, I love pretty much any book." Joan amended with a grin. Megan sat next to her.
"Same. What's your favourite?"
"Mm... To kill a mockingbird. Yours?" They chatted on for hours, continuing through dinner and long to the night. When Megan finally dropped off to sleep somewhere after midnight, Joan turned onto her side, cushioning her head on her arm. Maybe the next few months wouldn't be so bad after all.
Present day
She climbed on the plane, talking to Annie over her shoulder and walked into the seating area, pausing in surprise when she saw Ben Mercer sitting there.
"Arthur." She cursed, sighing in resignation. Cautiously, she watched as Annie approached him, her body language stiff and worried. She couldn't help the tiny smile when Annie bypassed sitting with him, instead choosing to sit by herself, immersed in memorising the facts on coal, oil and gas.
Of course, Mercer wasn't so easily put off, so when it looked like Annie was becoming exasperated with him she stepped in.
"Family meeting." She said with only a hint of sarcasm, wincing internally at her words. She proceeded to lay down the ground rules, aiming her comments specifically towards Ben but knowing Annie would- hopefully- follow them as well.
Joan felt nothing but relief when she saw Megan sitting in the conference room, but that was quickly dashed when Delgado pointed a gun at Annie. When Ben made to move she grabbed his arm, a silent warning not to screw this up until they were sure it couldn't be saved. She relaxed her grip when the video Annie had recorded earlier popped up on Delgado's tablet, casting a warning glare at Ben.
She didn't know whether she wanted to scream or applaud when Annie asked Delgado to let the hostages use the bathroom.
"Don't overplay your hand with Delgado." She warned. "He's a live wire."
Annie nodded at her, and before she could say anything else the door opened and Meg walked in. She hugged her tightly, smiling at her confused questions.
"When I woke in that hospital bed, who was there beside me?" she smiled. Meg grinned, before launching into an explanation about tattoos.
"Please try not to annoy the armed gang member." Joan whispered under her breath to Annie. She gave a 'who me?' look before crossing to Ben to get wired up. Joan watched calmly as the interview started, but frowned as Annie began to become more aggressive. She shot Ben a look, but he seemed just as confused as she was.
Her heart pounded as she watched Annie face off to Delgado and she tensed, ready to intervene but he backed off of her, throwing his anger towards the camera instead. AS they were walking to the room with the other hostages, Joan prepared to rip into her, but paused when she remembered something the former head of the DPD had said to before he left.
'Remember this; your operatives are the ones in the field. They're the ones taking the risks, and they're the ones who will suffer if anything goes wrong. So as long as they have all the facts, trust their judgement. Trust your agents.'
And so Joan reigned in her temper. "Annie?"
"We have to get close to the other hostages. Delgado has no intention of letting them out of here alive." She explained in an undertone. Joan fell silent.
In the room, Delgado marched the CEO out and Annie turned to Joan.
"Sorry." She apologised.
"No, you were right." Joan reassured her, inexplicably proud. "He was completely preoccupied during that interview; such attention to detail and then distant when it mattered most? It didn't make sense."
"This is not about a political message." Annie glanced at Megan as she stepped closer.
"Certainly explains his thugs."
"He's not in charge. Someone else is pulling the strings." Annie told her, casting a look at the locked door.
They all looked around as Ben knocked on the window, testing its strength. "Let's figure a way out of here." He suggested, seemingly unconcerned with all the eyes on him. Joan turned to face him fully.
"Ben! You're up. What'd you sneak in here?" He looked at her in surprise, and she smirked. "You really think I didn't notice?"
Hostages safe and crisis over, she rode back with Megan while Annie and Ben hitched a lift in another car.
"Hey, Joanie, can I ask you something?" Meg asked.
"Sure. What?"
"Annie… is she who I think she is?" Meg hesitated, and Joan let out a laugh.
"I should have known you'd realise. Yes, she is."
"Whoa. And she became CIA as well?" Meg sounded disbelieving.
"I know. You should have seen my face when opened the file and saw her picture staring up at me. I almost had a seizure." They both laughed softly, and Joan smiled. "She's good though, Meg. She's really good."
"Evidently. Does she know?" Meg looked at her when there was no answer.
"She doesn't even know she's adopted. As far as she and the rest of the world are concerned, I'm just her boss." Joan rested her head back against the seat, while Meg looked at her with concern.
"Are you going to tell her?"
"No. She has enough going on in her life- Danielle adores her, and even if she doesn't admit it I know Annie struggles to hide so much from her. Coupled with Ben Mercer, Arthur's dealings and her missions? She deserves not to have a complete screwball thrown at her." They reached a traffic light and Joan halted, glancing over in time to see Meg gave her an incredulous look. Joan reached over and clasped her hand. "This, right now? This is enough for me Meg. She's- mostly- safe, and happy and I can see that for myself and be a part of her life, even if it is as her boss."
"But for how long can this be enough, Joanie?" Meg asked gently. Joan shrugged, putting the car in drive and heading for the airport.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
Joan came extraordinarily close to telling Annie the truth another couple of weeks later. Breaking the news her college professor was CIA was hard- breaking the news that he was dead was even harder.
"Safia didn't know? How is that possible?" Annie exclaimed.
"Does your sister know?" Joan shot back. It was bitchy, but her own emotions were running high as well. Annie flinched slightly, but inclined her head in acknowledgement. Joan suppressed a sigh, and got on with briefing her.
Joan felt like she was being torn in about fifty different directions. She was in boss mode when one of her operatives messed up and leaked an assets status to his girlfriend, to wife mode when Arthur began acting strangely. Back to boss mode when Safia vanished, then to sister mode when Rosie called from Asia and back to boss mode when Annie finally arrived back at the agency with the information thirty agents had spent days trying to recover. She reprimanded Annie for disobeying orders, shouted at an idiot from the state department about another case and was immediately pulled onto another case that had just blown up. Three days and less than eight hours of sleep later, she had just enough time to change her clothes before Ramsay's star service and then went home and collapsed on the bed.
"Joan?" Arthur tipped his head to the side slightly when he walked in and saw her lying face down, still in her work clothes.
"Mm?"
"Are you Ok?" he asked slowly.
"Mm."
He watched her for another moment. "Joan?"
"Mm?"
"What are you doing?"
She finally raised her head to look at him with bleary eyes. "Trying to sleep."
"Dressed like that? You haven't even taken your make up off honey."
"Too tired. Deal with it in the morning." She dropped her head back down, exhausted. Arthur watched her for another minute. As he did, he saw her breathing even out and deepen, and when he gently rolled her over she was already asleep. He chuckled slightly, and carefully undressed her, sliding an old cotton t-shirt over her head and lifting her under the covers, wiping the make-up from her face the best he could before creeping under the covers himself, wrapping his arms around his wife.
A month later, Joan received the news that Annie had been admitted to hospital with suspected poisoning.
"They're waiting for news on whether or not she ingested anything." Auggie told her over the phone. She hung up.
After a run, some serious pacing and a shouting match with Arthur, she finally threw herself into the paperwork on her desk, hoping to distract herself. The visit from the state department didn't help matters, and finally she gave up, making the trek up to Arthurs' office and curling up on the couch.
"Joan?" he looked at her worriedly.
"Don't mind me. I'm hiding."
"From who?"
"The state department. My agents. Jai."
"Oh. Alright then." He went back to the paperwork on his desk while she stared out of the window contemplatively. She knew Annie was attempting to read Danielle in to her life- a file had popped up in her inbox with the information in. She wouldn't have much of a choice now, mused Joan silently. She toyed with the idea of telling Arthur who Annie was.
He'd reassign her, Joan realised. And that was something she couldn't let happen. At least the way things were, she could at least try to protect Annie. If she were moved to a different division? Joan would likely never hear from her again.
"Annie, my office." Joan didn't even look at her as she strode past later that afternoon, angry at her. She didn't know why she was still surprised when Annie didn't do as she was ordered. They argued, Joan becoming more and more exasperated with the young agent until she finally revealed the deal she had to make with state department.
Another few hours later, it was Auggie's turn to get chewed out but Joan paused at the doorway when she saw him and Annie together, obviously discussing the case they shouldn't be working from the silence that fell. Annie looked at her, waiting but Joan simply turned and walked out, heading up to Arthur's office.
"I'm having a management problem." She said, pacing slightly.
"I thought you liked initiative?" Arthur leaned against his desk.
"This involves state." She explained, resisting the urge to wring her hands.
"Let me make your day a little easier- you don't work for state. Or for that hothead Steve Bar."
"No- I work for you." Joan smiled slightly.
"No, you work for the CIA; you run your own division however you see fit." He straightened, slipping his hands around her waist.
"Thank you."
"But you knew that already." She fiddled with his tie. "So what'd you need from me?"
She bit her lip with a smile.
Joan had never particularly liked heights, but even she had to admit the view was amazing from up here in the helicopter. She heard Annie spout a view on the suspect on foot, and then the faint whistle and jostling as she- presumably- took off after him.
"Annie?" she asked. "Annie? Annie!"
There was more jostling, then a crackle and crunch and the line went dead.
"Shit!" she cursed. A minute passed, then five. Ten, and then- finally- the leader's voice came over.
"Suspect located and neutralised. Operative Walker is secure. Team leader out." Joan sighed in relief, leaning back against her chair and unclenching her fists. For now at least, Annie was safe.
Another few days, Annie had returned from Venice, her injured pride more of a concern to her than her injured side. Joan knew she was struggling in the aftermath of reading-in Danielle, but she couldn't help but be concerned when the pictures of Annie with a foreign national emerged. But she twisted it, forcing Annie to work him for information. She only hoped Dani and Annie patched things up soon.
Of course, that was dashed when Annie burst into her office and requested to read Xavier in as an asset.
"No." she didn't even have to think about it.
"Why not?" Annie asked. Joan didn't miss out of the corner of her eye how she grabbed her side when she leant on the desk.
"Because there's a very real possibility he's still an active member of a terrorist cell and at the very least has been harbouring a very dangerous person of interest." Joan told her.
"He let his brother sleep on his couch. He's not a terrorist; he has too much to lose." Annie pleaded.
"And you've known him for how long? Two days? Assets need to be vetted much more fully." Joan looked back down at her paperwork, hoping Annie would get the hint.
"We might not have enough time!"
"This is rapidly becoming a criminal matter. I'm gonna let the bureau handle it from here." Joan explained, but blinked in surprise when Annie gave a spiel about her performance and Xavier. She frowned as Annie's voice got louder and louder, before she finally interrupted.
"Before you continue I'd advise you to consider where each of us rank in the hierarchy of this organisation." Joan raised her eyebrows, and Annie visibly calmed.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be disrespectful."
"You're feeling down. And you're beating yourself up. And that's ok. I'm confident you can work through this. But reading in Xavier is not going to make up for losing that package or for how things went with your sister." Joan gentled her tone as she walked around the desk to Annie.
"This has nothing to do with my sister." Annie denied.
"You sure about that?" Joan watched as doubt, guilt and realisation flashed across Annie's face, followed by denial. Ah well- it was probably going to take a few goes.
Another few weeks and Annie had been out of the country for days on an anonymous tip off that had turned into something much bigger. And when Arthur went jetting off to Berlin, Joan got more anxious than ever.
"I want a full report." She told Annie. There was a slight pause.
"On the meet?" Annie asked in bemusement. Joan stared at the picture in her hand.
"On everything." She hung up the phone, laying the picture on the desk and frowning and only feeling a little guilty about using Annie like this.
She had a really bad feeling about this.
When Annie called her in at almost eleven at night on her day off, Joan came very close to putting her on desk duty for a month. But she resisted when she heard the story about Eyal Levin.
"He's right." She told Annie.
"What?" Joan smiled faintly at her surprise. "We need eyes on him."
Annie groaned under her breath, prompting a small grin from Joan. She was sure Annie's Israeli friend was going to have a field day with this one.
Another few days later, Joan stood in front of Annie, briefing her on the plan with Grace and BB.
"We want you to turn Grace against BB. We feel fracturing the sisters is the best way to do it and psych ops agrees." Joan explained.
"Psych ops?" Annie asked, struggling to keep up with her.
"We had a psychological profile drawn up on both of the sisters. BB's motivations are clear- financial need. Her gift shop hasn't been doing so well since the economic downturn and she has parental issues that Fark could right a whole new book about."
"BB and Grace are really close…"
"I know; that's the point. It's the key." Joan told her. She handed Annie the folder in her hand. "These prison records show that BB visited her father in prison weekly. She was lying to Grace. You need to show those to Grace in order to turn her."
A look of bewilderment crossed Annie's face. "I don't understand. I thought…"
"Annie." She waited until the younger woman looked up. "The prison records are fake. You need to drive a wedge between the sisters and this is the best way to do it."
Annie stared at her sceptically. "Really? Forging prison records is our only option? I don't think that's going to hold up!"
"It will if you sell it right."
"They're sisters. They're going to see right through this." Annie protested.
"Well, if you have a better tactic please- speak up." Joan watched as emotions played across her face.
"Joan… I don't think I can do this."
"You think your own situation with your sister is clouding your judgement?" Joan asked, not as sternly as if it had been anyone else.
"I think my own situation is clarifying my judgement."
"Annie, I have three sisters! You don't own a monopoly on family drama; every family- every situation- is different so you need to put that sense of moral outrage in check because this is real! Real lives are at stake. This is what we do." Joan stared at her, heart beating fast as she clamped down on the emotions inside her and portrayed only her well-practiced mask. She hadn't meant to reveal that to Annie. She couldn't afford to be anything but Annie's ice-queen boss.
"I think my emotions will impair my ability to do this mission well." Annie swallowed, and Joan saw her fight back her own emotions. "So I'm not doing it."
Joan stared at her in surprise- Annie had never refused an order directly to her face before. She watched silently as she walked out without another word, making her way through the bullpen and out of the door.
Now what?
Joan had already tried Annie's desk and she'd called her old line at her sisters' house in search of Annie, as well as checking the Smithsonian to see if Annie was hiding there. If she wasn't at Allen's tavern, she was stuck. It was easy to see who was or wasn't CIA when she walked in- those who were visibly reacted to her presence but her focus was on the blonde in front of her.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked. Annie jumped, looking up at her in surprise. Joan smiled slightly, sitting down before she could answer and placing her order with the waitress.
"Wow- I haven't been here in years. Not since I was a field op. Is the chilli dog still good?" she asked. Annie nodded, half expecting Joan to chew her out.
"Surprisingly good, actually." She smiled tentatively when she didn't. "You're not here to give me a pep talk, are you?" Annie asked. "You're here to tell me to 'do the job'."
"Yes- that's right." Confirmed Joan. Annie leaned back in her chair unhappily. "Annie, I understand your sensitivity to this mission. But due to Max Langford's recent actions we've had to suspend all our operations in Moscow and we're flying blind in Russia right now.
"I know you feel your personal situation is getting in the way of your ability but it's that sensitivity that makes you the exact right person for the job. That's why I picked you. I think you know that." They both looked up when the waitress came back with their drinks, causing a lull in the conversation before Joan continued. "However you want to get the mission done is up to you. But get the mission done."
After a few beats, Annie nodded. "I'll get it done."
Joan was impressed when Annie completed the mission, but guessed she'd probably be getting a request for firearms training soon. She'd already completed the paperwork on her end when Annie asked, and wasn't really surprised when the girl passed with flying colours.
She was surprised, however, when Annie was approached by MI6, and equally amused. Because really, who else would it have been? She didn't find it quite as funny when Annie got kidnapped and disobeyed her orders to stand down, before disobeying her again.
"She's completely uncontrollable." She sighed to Arthur later that night. He smirked.
"Now you know what I felt like when I was your boss and you were still in the field."
"It's not funny." She scowled at him. He only smiled wider.
"It is a little bit." He held up his fingers to demonstrate. She groaned, throwing a pillow at him and walking out. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
"Joan!" Auggie yelled across the department. Joan sighed. If it were anyone else…
"What is it Auggie?" she entered his office
"Annie." Of course it was.
"What did she do?" Joan crossed her arms and leant on the desk, rolling her eyes slightly.
"It's more a case of what didn't she do…"
"Explain."
"She didn't make the contact. Her sister was at the event." Auggie winced. Joan frowned.
"Danielle? What was she doing there?"
"Last minute addition to the holiday plans, who happened to have a friend who did the flowers for the event and so tagged along. Anyway, the contact mistook her for Annie which left our favourite blonde with the package, so she did a return to sender except the sender was dead. Meaning she's now on the run from unknown assailants with an unknown package in the middle of Stockholm with her civilian sister." Auggie waited for an outburst that never came.
"Can you get them out?" Joan asked calmly.
"Working on it as we speak. I was expecting a… ah, more vocal reaction?" Auggie hedged. Joan gave a tired smile.
"It's Annie, Auggie. I've pretty much come to expect that things won't go as expected. I'll go update Arthur."
She walked off, leaving Auggie to continue to contact nearby trawlers. An hour later and Auggie had a plan in place and a few hours after that, Annie was relatively safe on a boat headed towards the Baltic.
"Hey." Arthur bent his head to press a kiss to her cheek as she lay on the sofa, half asleep.
"Hey." She murmured, shifting so he could sit next to her.
"Walker okay?" he asked, smoothing a hand over her legs before bringing them to rest in his lap.
"Not really. She just shot and killed a man for the first time, less than a hundred yards from where her sister was standing. She's suffering. But… she's strong. I think she'll be alright."
"She's a good agent." Her eyes drifted closed as he rubbed her feet.
"Mmhm."
"She's going to go far."
"Mmhm."
"You like her." she opened her eyes halfway and watched him quizzically.
"I do, yes. Why?"
"Because things are going to go to hell in the next few weeks. And the only way to protect her… might be to get rid of her." he stilled his hand as she sat up straight.
"What are you saying Arthur?"
"Do you trust me?" he asked her seriously.
"You know I do. With my life. Now what's going on?" she insisted, her eyes never moving from his.
"You trust me to protect Annie and Auggie as well?" he questioned. She gazed at him for a few moments.
"… Yes. Arthur, what is going on? What are you going to do?"
"Protect them. The only way I can." He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.
"You'll protect yourself too, right?" Joan asked, her voice muffled. Arthur closed his eyes briefly.
"Of course." He lied.