Rehumanize Yourself Act 2

"This is Ksenia Korlova," Joan began as she brought up a picture on the screen behind her.

Annie saw a woman who appeared to be in her late 40s or 50s, glossy and well-dressed. She screamed new rich.

"Korlova is Russian born, Murmansk, but currently she resides in Miami. It is a well-known fact that Korlova is one of the most successful drug traffickers in all of Miami," Joan continued.

"So isn't she the DEA's problem?" Linda asked.

"This isn't about drugs," Annie guessed.

"Exactly," Joan smiled.

"What are the drugs funding?" Auggie added.

"We do not know," Joan sighed.

***555***

"Annie can I see you?" Joan asked as the group broke for lunch.

"Sure," she nodded.

"I'll grab that salad you like," Auggie offered.

"Ooooh, I've missed that salad," she squeezed his arm as she followed Joan down to her new office.

"You like the new space?" Joan began casually.

"Very much, it is definitely the nicest office I've ever had," Annie smiled.

"I'm glad you're here and Auggie too, but we do need to talk about your heart."

"I know."

"Have you considered your options?"

"I have. Now that I am no longer trying to hide my condition I need to have a full work up here in the US. My diagnosing doctor was thorough, but everything was rushed and confidential. So I have set up an appointment for next week."

"How have you been?"

"Fine. I haven't had an episode since I was in Argentina."

"Good."

"Of course I haven't exactly been exerting myself," Annie grinned.

"You deserved a break, so did Auggie. You both look much better."

"Thanks."

"I imagine your treatment will depend on the full assessment of damage to the heart muscle?"

"Yes, it could be as simple as drug therapy or it could require surgery, from what I read."

"Well, I meant what I said, Annie, I want you to get well. We are just starting to dig in to Korlova. I brought Linda on as she is a fully certified field agent, but I truly don't think there is going to be much more than surveillance for a while. Get better, you will always be the one I want out there."

Annie just nodded around the sudden lump in her throat.

***555***

By the time she made it back to the office Auggie had returned from the cafeteria with their lunch.

"Green goddess salad, no peanuts," he presented as she moved into the room.

"Thanks," she took the plastic box and pulled up a chair.

"Everything good?" he asked casually as he arranged his own food.

"Yes," Annie said honestly, but didn't share anything further.

"So what's your first thought on Ksenia?"

"If they cast the housewives of Murmansk she would fit right in."

Auggie just cocked his head.

"She has a very glossy richness to her, lots of gold and big sunglasses and shiny hair. Murmansk is a port town, she didn't come out of Murmansk like that."

"She's married to an American," Auggie shared a bit of info Joan had not.

"Really?"

"Yep, some corporate big wig, owns part of the Florida Marlins," he shrugged.

"Hmmmm, wonder if he knows about his wife's side business?"

"No idea."

"I feel like we need to do some work on Murmansk, it is a shipping area, not Russia's biggest, but significant. If she is running drugs and or money she may have a team there."

"We have a few assets in Petrozavodsk," Auggie remembered.

"Yeah?"

"I called them when you and Danielle were in Stockholm a while back, I've kept in touch."

"Great."

"I'll reach out," he promised as there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Annie called after she swallowed her food.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Joan said 10 minutes," Millie mentioned and moved on.

"I miss Hawaii," Annie sighed and stabbed at the lettuce in her salad.

***555***

"OK, we will meet again Wednesday, until then you have your assignments. Auggie and Calvin if you uncover anything actionable bring it to me immediately. Thanks," Joan left the task force in the conference room.

Auggie and Calvin began listing the various records they could get with the Freedom of Information Act and what they might need DOJ help with while Annie was interested to pick Linda's brain.

"So, you've been in Eastern Europe for a while now?" Annie asked as she fixed a cup of coffee.

"Five years," Linda nodded.

"That's a long assignment."

"I did well there," Linda shrugged.

"Well, I've never been stationed there but I do have a pretty good network, Auggie too, we should cross check our assets," Annie suggested.

"I'm sure you have quite a network to pull off the things you have pulled off," Linda alluded to Annie's infamous wins.

"It's mostly Auggie," she shrugged.

"The two of them are rock stars," Millie added.

"Thanks, Millie," Annie sipped her coffee.

"We heard a lot about you a few years back," Linda said diplomatically referring to the mess with Simon and Lena.

"Don't believe everything you hear, especially at the CIA," Annie whispered and walked away.

***555***

"I don't think Linda likes me," Annie mentioned as she tossed Auggie's stress ball in the air.

"I'm sure that's not true."

"I seem to have a reputation around these parts."

"For sleeping with your handler?" he smirked.

"For getting big wins. I'm turning in to Lena," she realized.

"No you're not," Auggie shook his head, "Lena's big wins were for Lena's benefit, yours have hardly benefited you at all."

"Mmmm," she nodded.

"You do get big wins Annie because you put your whole self on the line over and over."

"I wish I could get a big win without quite that much risk," she admitted.

"Maybe that is what this task force is for, this idea of a combined effort might be really good for you. It'll be hard to work with a team again, to trust a team again, but you can still haul in the big win, you just might have to share the glory, but you also get to share the struggle."

"Some agents burn bright for a short time and that's it, do you really think I can transition?"

"I think there is no one I have ever worked with who is as good at what they do as you are Annie. I think you have elite language and interpersonal skills and incredible instincts. I think you lost your focus for a while, lost a sense of your priorities, but I hope we can bring that back around."

"You are still really good at inspirational speeches," Annie teased.

"Good, now get out of here, you are distracting me," he smiled back.

***555***

Down the hall from Annie and Auggie's office suite was a similar lay out for Linda, Millie and Calvin. Linda returned from Joan's office with a box of files and closed the door behind her.

"Did you guys know who the other team members were before today?" Linda asked pointedly.

"No," the other two looked up from their desks.

"I thought they were both on their way out," Linda shared the gossip she knew.

"Joan has been through a lot with both of them, I am sure she was able to keep them in the fold," Millie responded.

"I hope that was a good decision," Linda replied and moved towards her desk in the back.

Calvin and Millie exchanged a worried look.

TBC…