Sorry! I've had this written but I had no real motivation to type it. Good news is, the next chapter is also written and I'll be able to type it up soon. Thank you all for your patience!
Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs, if I did there'd be NO seasons, it would just run straight through so that we're not all just sitting here being driven insane with anticipation :)
After a simple thirty minute car ride (if simple meant freaking out about everything that has happened in the last few days), she sat down on her side of the bullet resistance glass in front of Danielle. She hadn't even said hello before Danielle started. "Can you believe this? Locking me in here like a common criminal."
"You broke the law." Annie reminded with as much patience as she could muster. She didn't know if it was because she was technically part of the system that locked her up or whether it was just her, but the fact that Danielle had to blame the system was grating.
Danielle got that sheepish look in her eyes. "It wasn't a very big one."
"Danielle! You threw a knife at him!" Annie dropped her head into her hands as she spoke through the glass. "That's not a small charge, that's attempted murder. You're lucky as it is that you missed. Don't even try to tell me you don't belong bars right now."
"It's not like I was actually gonna hit him." Danielle's pleading whine was replaced by disappointment when she realized Annie wasn't buying it. Usually it was her calling Annie's crap. "I can't believe my little sister is actually siding with these people. Where's loyalty when you need it. And what about Mark? Why aren't you yelling at him?"
"Because I'm not on your side, and I'm not on their side. I'm on my niece's side. You remember them, right? Aaron with the constant missing tooth and Beth, the mini manipulator? Your daughters? Yeah, well, I'm on their side and you're their mother." She lowered her voice so that she wouldn't draw the attention of every one else around. "That's why I'm here."
"Jeez, Annie, lay off. It was just a question." Danielle didn't even blink at the mention of her kids and Annie wondered, not for the first time in the last few days, just how self absorbed Danielle was. "You know, it's not like you even like them, so you can just drop the noble protector act."
Annie just stammered at her sister's statement. "Wha... W... Wh... What are you talking about?"
Danielle rolled her eyes. "Come on, Annie. You're hardly around, always canceling plans with them..."
"I was working, Danielle. If I could spend every day with them, I would, but I can't. You knew I wouldn't be home a lot but you were constantly arranging things for me to do with them, forcing me to let them down again and again. It was like as long as you got them out of your hair, nobody else mattered." She narrowed her eyes accusingly. "Do you even care about your own children?"
"At the moment?" Danielle leaned forward a little. "This is the first peace and quiet I've gotten since they were born, but I won't be gone long. Once my two weeks are up, they'll be mine again and they won't hear a word of this."
Listening to the way Danielle spoke of them, her mind was made up right there. It seemed like such an easy decision now that she made it and she didn't know what took so long. She could figure out the hows and the whys later, but this she knew for certain. "You're right, they won't hear about this, not from you. But here's where you're wrong. The girls are gonna live with me now, away from you and away from Mark."
"You can't do that. You can't take my babies." It wasn't a threat, but it could have been. The edge in Danielle's voice wasn't about love for a child, but about possession. It was about taking something of hers away, like she'd been with her toys as a child.
"I can and I will." Annie rose,, grabbed her purse off the counter. "They need someone to love them. Someone who can be there for them and only for them. I'm sorry, Danielle, but I think it would be for the best if you didn't even have contact with them, at least until we get settled in."
"Wait, where are you going?" Danielle jumped up, ignoring the guard who ordered her back in her seat. "You can't leave yet."
Annie looked at her, and for the first time since they were kids she saw the real Danielle. Her heart ached, knowing the woman she'd grown closer to since she'd moved to D.C. was a facade. The part of her, at least, that cared about her family was nothing more than a ruse to keep the world from seeing who she really was. "I've said everything I needed to say, Danielle. We're done here."
She left quickly, only barely making it to the safe interior of her car before the indifferent mask she wore broke and left her trembling with tears streaking down her face. Her forehead hit the steering wheel as she tried to sort through all her thoughts and emotions. She'd just taken on two children. They'd have to move, which meant she'd have to find a place for them to life. Her parents would take Danielle's side, as always so they wouldn't be any help in raising the girls. She very well couldn't ask Auggie to help her like that. Even with this new aspect to their relationship, it was still too much to ask of him... even if he is great with kids.
Her phone trilled from the inside of her jean pocket. Carefully she went through and calmed herself down so that her voice was smooth when she dug her phone out of her pocket. "Walker."
"Hey, Annie." Auggie's smile was clear even in his voice.
"Hey, yourself." She smiled in return, but there was no energy behind it, none that she could muster at least.
"How bad was it?" He kept his voice low as Under The Sea filled the background noise on his end.
"I just told my sister I'm taking her daughters, I have a week to find an apartment, my parents..."
"Breath, Annie." He cut her off, waited until she did what she was told. "You're doing good. You made the right choice."
"I don't have a plan." She shook her head clear, "I need to come up with some kind of plan."
"Here's the plan." The ever present voice in her ear told her in his no nonsense voice. "You're going to come home, kiss the girls, kiss me, eat dinner, and go to sleep. Tomorrow we'll head up to Cedar Point, and we'll go apartment hunting after we've completed our mission."
She smiled a little more. "What do you mean 'we'?"
"I told you I'd be here with you through this. My lease is up at the end of the month anyway and I figured: hey, I love you and I think you love me, so why don't we just..."
"Auggie." It was her turn to cut him off, though hearing him say the L word still made her stomach a little tingly. "Are you sure you want this? I mean, two kids is a lot to just jump into." Plus, of course, she still wasn't sure what he saw in her. No pun intended.
"Then we'll jump into it together." He didn't hesitate and she wondered if he'd thought it through. And she meant REALLY thought it through. He read her mind, whether intentional or not. "Don't try to change my mind, Annie. I love you, remember? I love these girls too."
"You keep saying that." She smiled a little, letting the subject drop for now. He knew it was neither admitting defeat or surrender, just that she was ready to move on. "Someone might think you're trying to tell me something."
"I'm gonna keep telling you, too." He sighed. "Until I don't have to wonder if you believe me." She could hear him shifting, chattering voices were suddenly very close to the receiver. If she had to guess she'd say the girls had joined him on the couch. "And every day after, too. Now, come home."
"I'm on my way." She turned the car on to prove her point before breathing out, "Hey, Auggie?"
"Yeah?"
Her smile grew again until she wondered if it would break her face. She couldn't promise him much, but she could give him this. "I love you."
He laughed, a good relieved and content laugh. "Glad to hear it."
