The grand finale! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and alerted :-) X
Annie nibbled her lip as she swung in her seat. It had been months since she and Alexa had been partnered up but she still hadn't told her about her condition, and she was beginning to think that maybe she should, especially as they'd become sort of friends.
Annie and Auggie had made up, although there was still some underlying tension as Annie disapproved of him seeing Natasha (although, Annie reflected, when wasn't there?) and she and Joan had continued their closeness (that made for some interesting gossip in the toilets) but it was nice to have someone her own age, who understood the pressures of the job and didn't freak out too badly when she did something stupid. Which was fairly often.
And Annie was beginning to feel guilty about lying to her, which was a definite flag considering how she'd resented the redhead when Joan had first introduced them and partnered them up. After mulling the decision over for a few weeks (alcohol may or may not have been involved in that on more than one occasion) she finally reached the conclusion that she didn't actually have that much choice- eventually she would find out, and Annie would prefer it came from being told than witnessing it first hand.
"Hey, 'Lexa? Can we talk for a minute?" Annie asked the redhead as they sat doing paperwork on Thursday morning. She shot the blonde a smile.
"Don't we always?" she joked. Annie stood, shaking her head.
"Privately." She grabbed her hand, tugging her out of the DPD so fast she didn't see Joan's raised eyebrows as she watched them go.
"What's wrong blondie?" Alexa asked as Annie led them to the toilets, checking all the stalls were empty before she locked the door.
Annie nibbled her fingernail. "I need to tell you something." She shifted anxiously.
"You look like you're about to crap yourself. Spit it out." Alexa leant against the sinks, head tilted as she watched Annie.
"Do you remember being told why we were partnered up?" Annie asked, trying to control her breathing.
"Yeah. Some agency directive. Annie, what the hell is going on?"
"It wasn't."
"Wasn't what?" Alexa questioned in exasperation.
"An agency directive." Annie answered. Alexa frowned.
"Then… what was it?"
"We were partnered up because I couldn't be allowed into the field alone. I was going to be put on desk duty but Joan and Calder came up with an alternative of me having a partner." Annie explained quickly, twisting her hands together.
"Why? You're good at field work." Alexa was stiff, on guard.
"Because I have a condition called Myocarditis. An infection of the heart tissue that causes my heart to periodically lose rhythm, causing me to collapse and lose consciousness."
Annie held her breath as Alexa processed this silently. "And you didn't think I needed to know this before now?" she said finally. Annie flinched.
"Only a handful of people know. Only three at this agency- you're the fourth."
"And what, you thought you couldn't bloody trust me!?" yelled Alexa.
"I didn't know if I could! Lots of people I thought I could trust have ended up betraying me, excuse me if I didn't entrust my biggest secret to a woman I'd never heard of before!" Annie cried. "I'm telling you now!"
"Oh, well, lucky me! I should be so freaking honoured, shouldn't I?!" Alexa spat, storming out before Annie could say another word. She sighed, sliding down the wall to rest her head in her hands. She stayed in that position for a while, not even moving when she heard the door opened. She assumed in was another operative who wouldn't bother her- there was a sort of unspoken policy between the women at the agency to do with the toilets- so she was surprised when she felt a body lower itself next to her. She looked up, strangely unsurprised to see Joan.
"Wanna talk about it?" she offered. Annie shook her head.
"You should be careful though. We'll inspire even more gossip and give poor Martha an aneurysm."
Joan looked at her in confusion. "I don't understand?
"According to Martha on the Belgium desk we're having a lesbian affair that Arthur doesn't know about."
Joan choked. "What?"
Annie shrugged. "Although if you listen to Tina down in accounting Arthur is fully aware and participates. But Gemma in HR thinks I'm actually your secret sister and we've decided to not hide our relationship any longer. Which, according to Dan in asset management, explains how I've survived so long and how I got my job back."
Joan stared at her. "Seriously?"
Annie smiled. "That's not even half of them."
They looked at each other for a beat before bursting into laughter. "How do people come up with this stuff?"
"Boredom?" suggested Annie. They both laughed helplessly again, spooking an Asian-looking rookie who came in but quickly backed out again. With Annie cheered up, Joan pulled her off the floor and set her to work cultivating an asset in order to keep her mind off Alexa, who'd become strangely absent.
The weekend had almost come and gone when Annie heard a knock on her door early Monday morning. She groaned, heaving herself out of bed and stumbling to the door, opening it without looking. "It isn't even dawn yet what could possibly be so- Alexa?" she questioned in surprise. The redhead pushed past Annie, dumping her bag on the floor.
"OK, I shouldn't have yelled at you but you threw me for a freaking loop. I mean, seriously? Although some things do make a damn lot more sense now. And it certainly explains why Joan and Auggie hover over you all the time and why Calder is always so bloody reluctant to send you on missions until Joan yells at him in her office and then he weirdly changes his mind, which is damn freaky in itself because no one else can get him to do that in the whole agency- trust me, I asked around. But the original freaking point remains in that you should have bloody told me!"
Annie blinked as Alexa finally finished her rant, breathing heavily. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Well?" Alexa demanded. Annie blinked again.
"'Lexa… please don't take this the wrong way, but it's three thirty in the morning and we have work in a few hours. Could we please do this when we get up? You can sleep on the couch- you know where the blankets are." Annie padded back into her bedroom and fell back into bed. She was moments from drifting off again when she felt a weight behind her. She turned, looking at Alexa in confusion but the redhead simply slipped silently under the covers, reaching for Annie's hand.
The blonde smiled, snuggling down into the blankets as she willingly let sleep overtake her- she knew all was forgiven.
Annie woke up a few hours later and was a little confused when she felt a body behind her, until the events of the night came back to her. She felt her lips turn up as she twisted around to find Alexa sleeping peacefully behind her, curled up as her hand lay under her head. Annie carefully slipped out of bed and made her way into the kitchen, shivering as the cool morning air hit her. One coffee later she was feeling human and was contemplating breakfast when Alexa appeared. "Do I smell coffee?"
"In the pot." Annie pointed, amused. Alexa stumbled over, gulping down the cup in thirty seconds before turning to Annie.
"Why the hell are you dressed in a tank top and shorts in this weather?"
Annie blinked, not expecting that question. "I… I can't sleep when I'm hot. 'Lexa… I'm really sorry."
"Good. Because if you ever hide anything even mildly like this again, I'll post the pictures from Rome on Facebook." Alexa said matter of factly.
Annie gasped. "You wouldn't!"
"Try me." Alexa challenged, eyes alight with humour. Annie held her gaze for a few more seconds before they broke down into laughter and Annie threw her arms around the redhead, who hugged back just as willingly.
"C'mon Red, we're gonna be late if we don't get a move on." Annie broke away and grabbed a bowl of cereal, shooing other woman to the shower. They sped through morning routines and carpooled to Langley, where they rushed into the empty DPD with seconds to spare. Joan was just leaving her office to head towards the conference room, and she raised an eyebrow at them.
"Cutting it close, aren't you?" she watched amusedly as they hurriedly dumped their bags and coats and grabbed some paper.
"Technically not late!" Annie grinned at her as they hurried into the briefing just ahead of her, taking a seat next to Auggie who said nothing but smirked at them. Joan shook her head slightly but started, only calling them back at the end.
"We weren't late!" Alexa said instantly.
"That's up for debate, but also not what I wanted to talk to you about. We have new intel on the Japan Op- you're both needed on the ground. Your flight leaves in a couple of hours." Joan explained. Annie felt her breath catch and she glanced at Alexa.
"You ok with that?" she asked softly.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily blondie." Alexa nudged her, grinning before scampering out the room when she realised her go bag was at home. Annie and Joan both chuckled at her.
"You told her?" Joan enquired quietly. Annie nodded.
"It was overdue." She accepted. Joan reached out to her, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.
"I'm proud of you Annie." She told her. Annie smiled widely, joy exploding through her.
"Thank you Joan." She whispered. The older blonde left, leaving Annie alone. On a whim, she slid her phone from her pocket and shot off a text to Eyal, smiling even as she grabbed the file on Japan and made herself comfy at her desk to read it.
You were wrong. It made me a stronger spy. N X
