Not the last chapter like I'd planned, but the muse took a bend that I did not expect until my fingers were pounding it out on the keyboard.
I owe a debt to girlwithoutfear for cleaning up this chapter as well as the previous one.
Disclaimer: still don't own. Wish I did. Wouldn't be so long before the show comes back on USA network.
After he closed the door, Wolfgang Rottman crossed to the bed and sat on its edge. He took off his jacket and loosened his tie before beckoning Annie to come to him. Cautiously, and with as much seductive swaying as she could muster, Annie strolled over to stand before him.
With a quick movement, Wolfgang pulled Annie's sundress over her head. She now stood before him in nothing but her matching Victoria's Secret bra and panties. Knowing what she was supposed to do, but not really in the mood to do it, Annie tugged Wolfgang's tie off, and began to unbutton his shirt. Once she had the shirt off, Annie began to stroke his chest with her index fingers. He was in good shape with well-toned muscles but with the slightest hint of a paunch beginning. She guessed that he was in his early forties. A scar on his left shoulder indicated that he'd been shot, and fairly recently, too. But his was not the chest that she wanted to be caressing at the moment.
His hands were kneading her buttocks, and his face was nestled between her breasts. He sighed contentedly. Slowly, seductively, his right hand found its way to her front and between her legs. Suddenly he stiffened.
Annie braced herself for potential words of displeasure.
"And what is this?" Wolfgang hissed at finding the mini-pad affixed to her panties.
"I – I'm on my period," Annie stammered. She was glad that he'd discovered that fact before he'd gotten too worked up.
He pulled back and extreme displeasure was splashed across his features. "Why do I always get women on the rag at the conclusion of my missions?" he seemed to think out loud.
"I wouldn't know about that Mr. Rottman. I'm not even sure why I was picked, except maybe for my linguistic skills. I speak Portuguese and French as well as a few other languages."
"Isn't that wonderful for you," he said in a tone dripping with sarcasm. "You're being on your period is not going to save you this time, Ms Anderson."
Annie took a step back and turned to flee. A firm hand grabbed her right wrist and held tight. She yelped in pain at that, and crumpled to the floor as Wolfgang backhanded her across the jaw.
##########
"Annie!" Auggie fairly screamed her name into his headset. He did not like what he was hearing through his feed from her. It appeared that the mission was going Tango Uniform rapidly. "Annie, are you all right?"
Silence in his headset.
"Annie, do you need me to send Jai in?"
This time he heard two coughs. He hurriedly dialed Jai's cell.
Jai's phone had barely rung in Auggie's ear when it was picked up. Jai seemed a bit breathless as he answered, "Wilcox."
"Get Annie out of there," Auggie yelled. He rose from his seat and began to pace around his work area, left hand ghosting along the edges of the glass topped desk and the table holding his monitoring console.
"We're on our way, Auggie."
"We?"
There was no further communication from Jai's phone, but Auggie heard the sounds of a door being broken down; and then sounds of more scuffling from Annie's earwig.
Auggie continued to pace for what seemed to him an eternity, before Jai spoke into his phone again. "Annie's safe. She'll have a good bruise on the side of her face where she was backhanded, but outside of being pretty badly shaken, she's physically okay. We have all the intel and Herr Rottman and his payment have been shoved out the door. I'll be taking Annie to our Embassy for the night. She's gathering her things together now."
"Did he …?"
"No, Auggie, he didn't have time to violate her before we got here," Jai reassured before ending the call.
Auggie checked the time. Joan should be in her office. He needed to report to her before he lost the fragile hold he had on his emotions. He was angry - no, livid was a better term - with Joan for sending his Annie on a mission that would have her deliberately engaging in casual intercourse and then had gone to the other extreme. It would do him no good if he took his frustrations out on his boss. It would not do Annie any good either. He steeled his features and checked his emotions as he knocked on Joan's door.
"Come in, Auggie. What's up?"
"I have information to report on Walker's op. She's completed it; she has the intel."
"And?" Joan asked expectedly.
"And we're going to owe the hotel for a repair bill. I had to send Jai in to keep her from being raped. Her being on her period did not deter him; it just pissed him off and he was going to have his way with her anyway. He beat her up pretty good before Jai got to her."
"Oh, Auggie, I'm so sorry," Joan said, lightly touching his arm. "That must have been so hard for you to hear."
"Huh? Why?" Auggie was confused why Joan would be apologizing to him. It was Annie to whom she needed to be offering her regret."
"I never thought this mission would come to that; or even the other either. I still would have sent Annie, but I would have insisted that Stu or Eric handle her so that you would not have to hear that sort of thing happening to her."
"Why not?" The more she spoke the more confused he became. Why was she telling him these things?
"Auggie, I know, Arthur knows, hell just about the whole company knows that you are head-over-heels for her. And, that she is the same for you."
"You do? They do? She is?" Realization dawned on him quickly. "How?"
"Have a seat Auggie, chair's about two feet straight in front of you."
Auggie located the chair and settled into it. This was the last place he thought that he'd be today.
"I know that you try to be professional around her, but, even though you try to hide them, the signs are there. You may not be able to see the way that she looks at you, but the love in her eyes when does is obvious to the rest of us. You two make a good team on so many levels. You have the company's blessing to pursue her. I think maybe she is going to need you when she gets back tomorrow."
"Thanks, Joan."
"I would imagine that you are very angry with us right now. Thank you for being civil to me."
"I don't think angry quite describes it," Auggie said evenly, and then chuckled softly. Joan was one of the few people who could get inside his head. Sometimes it seemed that she knew him better than he knew himself.
"Please know that the company is very unhappy with the way this operation went sideways for Annie. It is never our intention to cause harm to our officers."
"I know, Joan. I would be upset for any female agent to be in that position, but it was Annie," he said and stopped there knowing that he'd already said too much.
Joan's phone rang and Auggie got up to leave. Before he reached the door Joan called him back.
"It's Jai. He and Annie are in a taxi on their way to the embassy. He's got the doctor on stand-by to check Annie. They'll both be on the flight that Annie was to return on tomorrow."
"Thanks Joan," Auggie said as he exited Joan's office.
Once he'd gotten back to his office, Auggie dug out the file for Annie's mission. He checked for her flight data. She'd be flying out of London Heathrow on British Airway flight 217 at 11:10 AM and getting into Dulles around 2:30. He quickly calculated the time it would take to get through customs, and make their way back to the office. It would be at least 5 PM before Annie and Jai would be here, probably later than that. He knew that he'd be here for her when she did. He implicitly understood that he would have to wait until after Joan, and possibly even Arthur, had talked to her. Then she could have his shoulder, and anything else that she wanted from him. That is if – oh God, he suddenly thought, what if she didn't want to see him. What if the assault had so traumatized her that she would withdraw from him, or any man, again. What if she blamed him for what had happened to her? What if, she blamed him for not sending Jai to rescue her sooner? What if – a thousand what it's pounded in his head.
He reached for his phone and dialed a number that he'd not had reason to use in years.
Who is Auggie calling? Will any of Auggie's imagined 'What if's' happen?
If you feel like commenting go ahead.
