A/N: I don't own these characters or the events written previously by CA writers. Thank you for reading and for the kind reviews. It makes me happy knowing people are enjoying these musings. Let me know what you think. . . I'll try to work on the other stories too. On a roll with this one so will keep going.

Chapter 7

About a month later. . .

Ryan and Arthur share a drink after a dinner hosting some members of the Senate Intelligence committee.

"Well that was a success!" said Arthur enthusiastically as he lifted a glass to his boss Ryan McQuaid.

There was no verbal reaction from Ryan. All he did was take a sip of his whiskey after motioning his glass in Arthur's direction.

"Come on man!" said Arthur as he slapped McQuaid on the back heartily.

"$20 million in DOD contracts and a security gig for the committee's tour of Naval carriers during Thanksgiving? You should be happy Ryan! We're back on the upswing! We'll be in the red by Christmas!"

But Ryan barely cracked a smile. Arthur knew Ryan had been going through the motions. He worked just as hard as he ever did after Fitz and Dex returned safely, but the joy he once had was missing. Ever since he found out Annie made a deal with Mossad to help free his operatives, Ryan wasn't his fun-loving and upbeat self. He used to have a boyish excitement and eagerness that accompanied him to work everyday. Now, Arthur observed a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Ryan had asked Arthur for help to locate Annie. Arthur obliged though he didn't try as hard as he could because he knew Annie and how she worked. He and Joan spent many a dinner discussing what Annie could be up to and they concluded she would be back when she was done much like how she returned from her mission to take down Henry Wilcox.

"It's hard to be chipper when I don't know if Annie is dead or alive!" spat a frustrated Ryan.

"Now you're being dramatic, she's alive, I'm sure of it," said Arthur before he took another sip of his drink.

Now Ryan's interest was peaked. He stopped mid-sip and turned to face Arthur, "How do you know that?" he demanded.

"Annie is a superb agent, the type of operative with incredible instincts and at least nine lives. She can handle herself in the field. She's in her element. Worrying does no good to her and harms you my friend."

Way back over a year ago when Ryan first met Annie and was recruiting Arthur, he asked him about Annie. Arthur said, he knew her, but he never let on the extent to which he knew her and her history. At the time his son Teo's death was still raw for Arthur. When Annie returned, he met her for coffee to thank her for taking down Henry Wilcox, but mostly he wanted to hear about Teo's last days as a means towards closure. He was happy with Joan and his new son Mac, but the guilt of Teo's tumultuous childhood and their lost years as well as Teo's hatred and resentment towards Arthur haunted him at times.

Teo died unexpectedly in surgery and all that Arthur had left to say to his son went unsaid. It was a great comfort to him to hear from Annie that Teo wasn't alone after his gunshot wound. He was eternally grateful to her for getting him to a military hospital. Annie tried everything in her power to save him. She did more for her son than he could at the time. He then comforted Annie when she teared up during their meeting. She told him how much guilt and regret she felt for stopping Teo from his clean shot at Henry. She apologized to him and said, lamenting that she should have let Teo kill Henry. "Maybe he'd still be alive," said Annie.

"Teo's death is Henry's fault, not yours. I blame Henry, not you," Arthur said to Annie.

Arthur truly didn't blame Annie in the least. He never wanted Henry dead, he wanted him brought to justice in a court of law, he wanted him deposed so his name could be cleared, but sometimes killing the virus was the only way. Arthur shared with Ryan what Annie did for his son and how the entire mission changed her. Ryan who listened attentively. He was surprised to learn the details of Arthur's son Teo, Wilcox's involvement in his mother's death, and Wilcox's feud with the Campbells. He always thought Henry was a son of a bitch and dirty, but he didn't realize how dirty.

"Henry used Annie when she was vulnerable. She had just returned from imprisonment in Russia followed by a hairy mission with Eyal. Then without more than a couple of days rest, she promptly lost a good friend, Jai, Henry's son. Henry blamed me for that of course and tried to twist what little he knew of Teo's involvement with the ALC to take me down and he succeeded. I managed to protect Joan," said Arthur after his second pour of whiskey. It was comforting for Arthur to talk about Teo with someone.

"You protected Joan by letting everyone think you had an affair. Arthur, I had no idea that was all fabricated to protect your family," said Ryan. He was learning so much that was news to him.

"And you hired me anyway, and I thank you."

"I guess I have good instincts too. So what happened after Teo died?" Ryan had a pretty good idea, but since his former mentor was being so forthcoming he wanted to let him do the talking.

Arthur thought for a few seconds before speaking.

"The deeper Annie delved into the past, my past and Henry's past, the more she uncovered about Henry's reach and plans. Auggie was involved too and it became harder for her to remove herself. She saw how wide Henry's power and desire for revenge went. You know Annie. She will do everything she can for the people she cares about. She didn't intend to kill Henry, but somewhere along the way she realized it was the only way to end it."

"So let me get this straight, she was the one who took out Wilcox? Jesus Christ Arthur! Rumors that it was more than an alleyway mugging were true! And it was Annie? And she spent time in a Russian prison?" asked a shocked Ryan.

A ton of questions swirled in his head. He was learning more about Annie in this short conversation with Arthur than he did after a year of co-habitating with Annie.

"She and Calder cooked up a plan after she convinced him that Wilcox was the true enemy. They didn't set out to kill Henry, just to smoke him out and look for evidence against him and linking him to terrorist events. Not even Auggie could talk her out of it by then. The stakes were too high. Joan and I were out of the loop. Annie wanted it that way for our own safety and deniability, so we really believed she was dead. Joan took it very hard. She was still pregnant with Mac."

Arthur remembered more dark details of his stabbing and Joan's near murder. Chills went up his spine as he took another sip of his third whiskey.

"So she made the tough choice to abandon her family."

"And Auggie."

Ryan looked surprised again. He knew that Auggie and Annie were close, he was her handler since she joined the CIA. He knew she cared for him like a brother, but never did she let on that they were once a couple.

"What?"

" he never told you about her relationship with Auggie?"

"She didn't speak much about her past. When I first met her, she kept saying she didn't mix business and pleasure, she's making more and more sense to me now."

"Well, she probably didn't want to lie to you. It was the lies and half- truths Auggie had to tell that doomed them. I'm to blame. I ordered Auggie not to tell her about his missions with Teo. I was trying to protect Joan and myself but who's to know. She and Auggie may not have lasted long if let alone. Auggie has his own baggage."

"That's a lot to take in Arthur. Do you ever wonder how she can sustain this way of life? I mean it robs her of a life, happiness, and . . ."

"It's safe to say Annie Walker is a very different person from the young lady who first walked into the halls of Langley. But you know these are the sacrifices agent like her make single day. It's what keeps our country safe. I call it noble."

"This job has broken her time and time again, I don't understand why she keeps doing it."

"It wasn't easy for her out on her own with only Calder as her lifeline. I think losing the support of her sister and killing Henry changed her forever. Then her heart condition. . . but I know she found a measure of happiness with you. She never would have spent that year with you if she didn't. Annie doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do."

Ryan nodded as a pit developed in his stomach. "But she did dump my sorry ass and packed up and left without telling me her plan. She was so angry with me for telling Joan and I wonder how much of that was real. I hope it was an act, but I now realize I don't really know her at all."

"Aw. Come on. Stop that. You know important things about her. None of her choices have been easy. You know she puts others before herself, she's resourceful, she's determined. She will turn up when she's good and ready."

"You think she will come back before Christmas?"

"That I don't know, but she always finds her way, she made her way back before, she will do it again. Her compass is her love for this country."

"But at what cost?" asked Ryan. "I think that love damaged her soul. One could argue she never recovered from her time isolated."

"But it's what made her the person she has become. It's what made her the gal you fell for," said Arthur.

Ryan wanted to hear more about Annie. She told him so little about herself and what she did tell him seemed to be sanitized versions of herself. Perhaps Arthur was right. She didn't want to lie to him. Instead, she said as little as possible. Gave as little as possible. She gave as much as she could. He remembered her saying that.

"To Annie's success and your continued success," said Arthur.

"I'll drink to that," said Ryan with a smile.

"Atta boy!" said Arthur.

"Tell me about her stint in the Russian prison," asked Ryan. He remembered saving her from Ivan Kravec who was going to transport her to Moscow. Would that have been the second time she was taken by Russians? At the time he thought Kravec wanted her because he found out she stole information on Kredit Krepost's clients. It turns out there was much more to the story according to Arthur's slip up.

"I've already revealed too much. Maybe one day she'll tell you," slurred Arthur.

"Let's get your home to your wife and son," said Ryan.

After Ryan dropped Arthur off, he went to his empty house.