Here's the next installment. Enjoy.

Again it's been a group effort between me, Mandy58 and fbobs.

And the other disclaimer - no copywrite infringement meant. I totally respect the work of Chris Ord and Matt Corman.


Annie Anderson

Annie saw Austin watching her come back through the gate a step or two ahead of Anthony. She felt again like last night, not quite as strongly perhaps, but the urge to run away and hide was still there. It was like she was about to test the water of a pond before going swimming. The feeling was so different from a few minutes earlier when she had stepped through the patio door from the house into the back yard. Then she felt comfortable, her eyes and ears cruising the dynamics picking a place to dive in full of confidence that she would be accepted. Now she felt tentative. She braced herself when she saw him head in her direction but tried to cover it with a pleasant look that she could tell didn't quite cover her feelings of the moment. Where was her deception training when she needed it?

Austin made his way over and said, "Annie, got a second?"

She looked his way and gave him a pleasant look and said, "Sure?" It was supposed to be a statement, but the inflection came off to her ears as a question.

"Annie," Austin began in a voice that was loud enough for everyone to hear, "I want to thank you in front of everybody for what you just did for dad, for us. You are here with your family. You are injured, that guy was three times your size and you didn't even blink, just took him on. You have earned my unconditional love and respect, and I'm sure that of the whole family. Please, never doubt that. You are our sister and we're family, we're here for you all the way."

That was followed by a chorus of agreement by all present as they gathered around her. She could feel herself surrounded by warmth and acceptance. Adam's voice coming over the crowd to say, "Well said, bro. Couldn't have said it better myself. Annie, we love ya. Never doubt that."

Annie looked at Austin, took him in, and then her eyes moved over the assembled family group all looking at her; she saw only love, approval, and acceptance on their faces and in their body language. No doubt, no questions, no accusation. She looked back at Austin, and around at all of them through eyes that were overloading with pent up emotion and said, "Thanks. I needed that." She reached out slightly for Auggie's hand. He was her anchor and right now, when her emotions were threatening to implode, she needed her personal one-man support system. For once he wasn't there. He was standing beside Austin. How had she missed that a moment ago? He wore a broad grin and his eyes were sparkling.

Alfred was standing nearest, took a step over and gave her a one-armed hug, and said, "That goes double for Abby and I."

Annie felt her eyes spill over onto her cheeks and didn't care. She looked at them all with tears running down her face, smiled through the tears and said, "You have no idea how much you all mean to me. You are more precious to me than life itself. Thank you for being so wonderful. I'm pretty sure I'm a new experience for all of you. I am so blessed you can accept me as I am. And I am so blessed to have you and Auggie in my life. Thank you. … Now I need a napkin or something." She chuckled a little trying to wipe her cheeks with her fingers before the tears dripped on her shirt, "I'm a mess."

Auggie pushed past his brothers and then slid his arms around her and said, "You are my mess, and I love you."

Abigail tapped Annie on the shoulder, held out three or four tissues and said, "Here you go. Get that dried off and let's get some food in you. Just watching you has made me both hungry and exhausted. You are a bad guy's worst nightmare. You need to eat so you grow up big and strong." Abigail laughed a little at her own joke; so did the others.

Alan said, "Mom, if she gets any bigger and stronger, there will be a traffic jam of crooks trying to get out of Glencoe."

As an informal line formed for the buffet-style cookout fare, Annie guided Auggie. She plated his food describing what was available. After looking around at the patio and yard, and finding it to have suddenly become more obstacle course than blind person friendly yard, advised her husband, "Auggie, the yard is a mess. Let me guide you to a table." When Auggie nodded his acquiescence she took his plate and brushed the back of his hand. Once she maneuvered them through the crowd of hungry family and got him seated, oriented to his setting and the food on his plate, she returned to the line which put her right behind Olivia and Adam.

Olivia turned to Annie with her brow slightly wrinkled and said; "Annie, Adam and I are expecting Megan and Alexis to besiege us with requests to take training so they can be just like their Aunt Annie. We have exactly zero experience with self-defense in any form beyond locking doors and hoping, and in this day and age, that clearly isn't enough. Is it reasonable for Adam and me to do some training too?"

Before Annie could answer Olivia continued, "Sis, we have no misconception we will ever be even five percent as competent as you are, I think you are pretty special even among elite martial artists, but there is clearly more to it than just knowing how to punch or hit."

When Olivia paused Annie said, "Yes, there is a lot you can learn that doesn't require going to a dojo, or sparring with a master like Auggie. It's called Situational Awareness. But even before that, most important, more important than anything else, is to make the personal commitment to survive. To promise yourself you won't let the bastards win. You will survive. Getting hurt is okay, getting killed – or worse, and there is worse – isn't. When you get mugged in a parking lot, your good options are all gone; at that point, you do what you have to do to survive."

Annie was suddenly aware she had drawn a bit of a crowd. The family was gathering around her, nobody was saying anything; it seemed as if they were hanging on her every syllable. She glanced around and saw Megan and Alexis totally focused on her; on what she was saying. At that point, she knew stopping was not an option, so she continued saying, "When you get mugged, the nice options are gone, so your first goal is to avoid getting mugged. The weapon for doing that is called Situational Awareness. Be aware of where you are, of what is going on around you. Girls," she looked at Megan and Alexis, "when you are out and about, it means doing things like, stopping inside the mall doors and scanning the parking lot looking for suspicious characters and not going out there if you see any. It means sitting so you can see the entrance of the restaurant; it means knowing where the exits are from a restaurant, it means knowing where there is something you could use to break a window and escape if you had to. It means being aware of potential freeway stalkers in cars and knowing how to get away from them. It means walking heads up, no iPod blaring in your ear, no small talk on the cell with a girlfriend or boyfriend distracting you from observing your surroundings. It means not acting like a victim. I could spend two eight hour days talking about it, but there are good books you can read. And I'd be happy to take you girls on a shopping trip through a mall or two and narrate what I see and what I'm looking at while we are driving and walking, and in stores."

Alexis said, "Tomorrow Aunt Annie, can we do that tomorrow?"

"Yes, if it's ok with your Mom and Dad."

Adam said, "Absolutely. Livvie and I are jealous."

Annie chuckled and said, "It's girl's day out."

Jenna said, "May I come too? I've seen you in action twice; I'd love to join you girls."

Without hesitation Annie replied, "I'd love to have you, it's the least I can do to repay you for scaring the heck out of you last night. But that's probably it for this trip. I want especially to spend some time with the most vulnerable of you, and, please don't take this wrong; I think that's the three of you."

Megan, literally jumping up and down, said, "Oh thank you. But how do you deal with trouble if you can't avoid it? Two days in a row you have had trouble come looking for you."

Annie laughed and said, "It wasn't looking, it seems to pretty much know where I am all the time."

That got a laugh, but Jessica said, "I get the situational awareness, to some extend all women do that, but probably not nearly as well as we should. But if someone grabs me, it has occurred to me, and more often than just since last night, I wouldn't know what to do. I have spent my whole life being told not to resist. To be what I now recognize is a willing victim. Pardon my language but at this point, after your example, being a victim sucks big time. What we've been told our whole lives is just plain bull crap."

Annie looked at Jessica in a new light, smiled slightly and said, "You're right, but just so you know, a lot of the commercial self-defense stuff is bull crap too. I had a third degree black belt from a commercial Karate school when Auggie showed me I knew exactly nothing about self-defense in the sense of using it to stay alive when faced by those who would do me harm. I had learned to spar pulling punches, I knew rituals, I could do choreographed moves like dance routines, kata's, slowly with perfect form. But Auggie could take me down with one hand tied behind his back, maybe standing on one foot. Auggie taught me a form of self-defense used by the Israeli Self Defense Force, the Special Forces, and Seal Teams called Krav Maga. The idea is to land the first blow and make it decisive. When the nice options are gone despite your best efforts at situational awareness, get close, get ugly, get vicious, hurt them bad before they hurt you. Take them down so they can't get up. If they do get up, all you've done is piss them off. If you are my size, going up against big strong men or multiple men, it's win or die, or worse than die."

Jenna said, "What's worse than being killed?"

"Being taken someplace else, raped and tortured for days or weeks, then killed."

Olivia gasped; Jenna looked shocked; but Jessica said, "I thought that might be what you would say. And I agree with you. I've read about things like that happening."

Annie nodded and added, "Just so you know where I'm coming from, The assailants last night, I am not in their heads, and none of them can tell us what they were thinking, but my assessment, and that of the law enforcement professionals who were here, is that the guys who came here last night had doing that to us after killing our guys maybe, planned as their evening's entertainment." She paused and said, "Please forgive me, I'm screwing up the serving of a delicious smelling barbeque and I'm going to eat a plate if I don't get some food soon. We can talk more about this later? Please?"

Adam said, "Allow me," walked her to the front of the line and said, "Please honor us by filling your plate and joining your husband who is waiting expectantly for you."

Annie gave Adam's arm a quick little squeeze and said, "I don't mind if I do, I wasn't kidding about being hungry." She chuckled and said, "It's a really bad idea to be between me and my food." That got some chuckles from those close to her as well. Not nervous chuckles, but chuckles appreciating the humor. She was one of them.

Annie filled her plate, her mind half on the task at hand and half on what she'd just said to the group. It wasn't conventional wisdom, but she didn't regard self-defense as a sport any longer, it was a tool to stay alive and should be treated that way. It was okay to enjoy it; to like the benefits of being in shape, feeling good, and being able to hit targets with a handgun, but the mental part, the attitude was what was the most important. Hopefully she had made a start on getting through to the girls about that.

When she arrived at the table where Auggie sat patiently waiting she bent over and whispered in his ear, "Honey, you didn't have to wait for me, please eat that before icicles form on it."

With him so close she couldn't resist; she set down her plate and then turned his face to her and planted a passionate kiss on him. She could tell he was a bit surprised by the very public display of affection, but Annie could also tell that he was pleased by it. After picking her plate back up, she habitually walked around the table to sit opposite Auggie where she could see the patio door on the house as well as the side gate to the driveway. A few seconds later, Abigail and Alfred walked up and Alfred asked, "May we join you?"

Annie blushed and said, "Of course, we'd love to have you join us."

They sat down with Abigail next to Annie across from Alfred. Annie saw her mother-in-law looking around the yard from where she was sitting, and then she turned to Annie and asked, "This is what you meant wasn't it? Sitting where you can see all the entrances and exits?"

Annie said, "By George I think she's got it," in her best Rex Harrison imitation.

Abigail laughed and said, "That was great. Every now and then your language skills slip out. How many languages do you speak anyway, I can't keep track."

Glad to have a new subject Annie replied, "I speak six with native proficiency, in other words, I can be in the country talking with the natives and they don't know I'm not one of them. I could pass for French in France when I was fifteen. I was in a small town a bicycle ride from where we lived, looking at some things in a small store when some American tourists came in. The French clerk was making insulting remarks about them to me when I realized he didn't know I wasn't French! I went right along with it and resisted dancing and shouting 'I won', till I got out in the country, then I went crazy laughing. That was the ultimate test."

"Do you speak some languages with other than native proficiency?"

"Yes, I get by in six more. I had to learn Farsi enough to get by when the Smithsonian put together that exhibit of Iraq art over the centuries. I don't speak Arabic at all. I'm sort of decent in two of the four major dialects of Chinese, but since I've had no reason to learn the other two I don't speak them. I understand some of what's said, but really can't converse in them."

With a sly grin Auggie said, "She can dance too."

Annie laughed and said, "So can you, as you proved at our wedding. I have witnesses. Two of them are right here."

Alfred said, "The day the two of you got married was one of the best days of our lives. We are still learning how blessed we were on that day."

Auggie held up his beer bottle, stood up and said for all to hear, "I'd like to propose a toast."

It got quiet, Alfred, Abigail, and Annie picked up their glasses, others picked up their beverage of choice, which Auggie apparently sensed because he continued, "Here's to family. Especially here's to this family, to our parents, to my brothers and their wonderful wives, to the nieces and nephews we're blessed with, and to my bride of two months to whom I owe so much, and who gives me so much. Finally I'd like to toast all the service men and woman who have defended this country for over two hundred years. All of them, the living who have written a blank check to the country redeemable for up to and including their lives, and those who sacrificed all their tomorrows so we could be here today. So here is to all of that. We are well and truly blessed this Independence Day."

There was a chorus of agreement and sounds of cans and glasses touching. Annie found Auggie's hand to make sure her glass clinked with his bottle saying, "Here's to my soldier, my personal hero, my husband. Here's to you Auggie. It might not be Memorial Day, but without our military men we wouldn't be the nation we are today. So, today is your day; and Alan's day. The rest of us are just benefactors."

Alfred said, "To the family."

Abigail looked at Annie for a minute and was about to say something but Annie put her hand on her arm and said, "Please don't. This is their day, Alan's and Auggie's. My Dad's, and all those in harm's way as we sit here. We need to thank our military men every time we have a holiday. Without their sacrifices we wouldn't have the chances to be together like we are."

Abigail leaned over, put her arms around Annie, gave her a kiss on the cheek and said in her ear, "It's your day too Annie." She leaned back, picked up her fork, took a bite of potato salad and asked, "What mall are you going to?"

Annie replied, "I'm not sure, but the one the four of us, Livvie, Jess, Jenna and I, went to the day Auggie and I were engaged, would be a good one. It has a lot of opportunities to teach lessons. My time with the girls will be limited, I need to impart all I can without burning them out in the limited time I have."

Abigail said, "The way they look at you, I don't think you could burn them out if you just sat and read them the white pages in the phone book. You are something completely new to them. They've seen TV heroines, but never a real life one, never mind seeing one in action like today."

"I saw the look," Annie said worriedly. "It's a lot to live up to. But if we get a chance to go over the fundamentals and discuss a few rules of thumb, I can teach them a lot in a couple of hours. Then I'll have them lead back practicing SA."

Annie's phone rang, she looked at the front of it, and it was Joan. She touched the phone to answer it holding it so Joan could hear what she said, turned to Abigail and Alfred and said, "Please excuse me, I'll only be a minute, but I need to take this."

She walked across the yard, into the house, and up to the bedroom, shut the door and said, "Hi Joan."

"Annie, what happened there today? I just got a police report there was another attack on the Anderson household that some un-named blonde ended by neutralizing the attacker and holding him for police. Care to explain?"

"If that's what's in the report, they reported on the same incident I was involved in."

"What happened?"

"The father of the first man through the door, the one that died later of … of damage I inflicted on him, came looking for revenge. I took him down as he threw a punch at Auggie's dad and convinced him to remain quiet while we zip tied his hands together and to his belt. I had him lie on the ground. The same police sergeant who was here last night responded to the scene. It went very smoothly. The guy is being booked for assault as we speak. He has a reputation as a bar room brawler and was taking his grief out the only way he knew how."

"I am looking at his arrest record. I can't imagine why he isn't in jail. It says here he's six-foot-two, two-hundred-eighty-five pounds. You are lucky he didn't break you in half."

"I didn't give him a chance."

"Don't get me wrong here Annie, but he's huge and from his picture not fat and flabby. I'm glad he's not dead or permanently injured, but if he was, I'd be totally supportive. Don't take chances with guys that big girl; put then down so they can't get back up."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to get that same lecture from Auggie when he gets me alone. But these are civilians Joan, not enemy combatants; the rules of engagement are different. He wasn't armed, lethal force would have been a hard sell, and it's too fine of a line to play with. You know that. I went directly for containment. When he wanted to struggle on the ground, I told him if he got loose I'd have to kill him because he was too big to fight. He believed me."

"You have a point about civilians, but you are just as dead or injured if they win as if an enemy wins. Don't forget that."

"Trust me, I won't."

"I'm going to run a check on the other parents to see if any of them look likely to follow up like this guy did. I'll let you know one way or the other in a few hours."

"Thanks, I really appreciate that. As it is I'm beginning to feel more like I'm in little Beirut than a wealthy suburb of Chicago. But I'm not leaving early because of this."

"I don't expect you to. Go enjoy yourself. I'll get some intel and call you back."

Annie stopped in the bathroom, washed her hands, splashed some water on her face, wiped it off, ran a brush over her hair once, and headed back to the yard. She returned to the table to find Auggie and Alfred talking. She sat back down, had a couple of bites of potato salad and a fork full of cold beans but didn't have the appetite to eat after talking to Joan. She reached for the guy's plates and asked if they wanted any dessert.

Auggie said he'd pass, then asked, "Is the path clear to the house, I need to visit the bathroom."

Annie took a look and said, "Yes, it is." She knew better than to offer to guide him if he didn't ask. When Auggie headed for the house, Alfred looked at her plate and said, "What happened, Annie? What took your appetite away?"

Without looking around again, Annie asked, "Dad, are we alone here?" She knew they were as alone as one could be in a crowd, but she wanted to impress on her father-in-law how private she wanted the conversation to be.

"For the moment, yes. You have something you need to talk about?"

"Yes. Just so you understand. Sometimes fighting does that to me. Afterwards I get to thinking about the consequences of losing, which never occur to me when I'm in a fight, and I don't feel so good right now. Last night I about passed out when Jenna helped Auggie put me to bed. I guess I had more of an adrenaline shot during my encounter with that man today than I thought." She paused, and then she looked right at him and said, "Dad, I don't know what possesses me to do that. To just go for them like last night, or that man today. I think about it later and it makes me nauseous. I wake up dripping wet in bed with nightmares about what if something had gone wrong, what if I made a mistake and got badly hurt or killed. How that would affect, Auggie. But when it happens, when I could see that guy was going to take a punch at you, I didn't even think about consequences, they simply weren't a consideration. It's later when I pay for it. If this is as bad as it gets, I'll be happy."

Annie thought maybe she'd made a mistake because Alfred looked stunned, then his expression changed and he said, "I'm not going to ask how you know your fight response so well because it's obvious you are in more than you can admit to. Any fool can see you've been in more than one or two fights for your life. You are simply too good at it for these to have been the only two. The one thing I'm certain of, the fights clearly aren't of your choosing any more than these were. I trust you completely to do what's right. But I appreciate you letting me know how much it costs you. And the fact that you think about it, the fact that it makes you ill, is oddly reassuring."

"Auggie says it never gets easier, and if it does, that's when I should worry."

"Auggie is a very lucky man to have found you Annie. Abby and I are maybe your biggest fans on the planet. We were before, we still are. You had us the first day we met you."

"Thanks Dad. May I give you a hug?"

"By all means."

Annie stood up, walked around the table and gave Alfred a hug. Then said, "I need to find my guy," and walked away towards the house, leaving Alfred looking after her with some concern.

# # #

Alfred Anderson

Abigail returned to join her husband with two bowls of strawberry short cake and looked at Annie's nearly full plate still sitting there. She looked at Alfred, back at the plate, and asked, "We have an upset daughter?"

Alfred thought about his and Annie's conversation; wondered what to share; finally decided to share it all. He said, "She's having another let down after her fight with that man today. She called it an 'encounter' but it was a fight and given his size and what we now know is his reputation as a bar brawler, very, very dangerous for her. She could have been maimed, permanently crippled, or killed by that guy before any of us could have stopped him. If she hadn't gotten between us, he most certainly would have done that to me."

Abigail said, "She doesn't think of consequences when she counter-attacks, does she?"

"No, she just told me she doesn't. She said, 'Dad, I don't know what possesses me to do that. To just go for them like last night, or that man today. I think about it later and it makes me nauseous. I wake up dripping wet in bed with nightmares about what if something had gone wrong, what if I made a mistake and got badly hurt or killed. How that would affect, Auggie. But when it happens, when I could see that guy was going to take a punch at you, I didn't even think about consequences, they simply weren't a consideration. It's later when I pay for it. If this is as bad as it gets, I'll be happy.' She pays a bigger price for her valor than any of us except Auggie know.

"She's no fool Abby, she's no psycho; she's a conscientious young woman who has the gift – or curse – of valor, and pays the painful consequences later – she has bruises on more than her little body. We are blessed she was here both days. We should think about how we deal with issues like this when she isn't here. What happened last night could happen anytime. You and I can't fight like she can. She's clearly an elite warrior of some sort, but I won't ever ask her what sort. That said, we need to think about what we would do if she wasn't here."

"Why don't we ask her dear? She's quite clearly an expert."

"I will, but I think we could also talk with Tony or Alan. Probably Alan."

Abigail looked at her husband for a long moment and said, "I don't believe for a minute she's in the acquisitions department at the Smithsonian. Neither do you. And I'm pretty sure Auggie isn't in an IT position at the Pentagon. He's in IT alright, for some government agency, probably the same un-named one she works for, but not the Pentagon. His boss, Joan, was here at the wedding. She seemed too familiar with Annie when she was here to be a casual acquaintance to Annie. And Annie just got a call from a Joan; I saw her name on the phone before she palmed it."

Alfred answered softly, "I'm certain you are right. It's the only rational explanation I can come up with to explain them. To explain her incredibly proficient and violent performances on our behalf last night and today. I'm also certain Alan knows the truth or close enough that it doesn't matter, and that Anthony has figured it out. But promise me you won't ask them, any of them. Please."

"I won't, I promise. But I will say some extra prayers for them to be safe and come home to us whole."

"Me too, Abby, me too." He looked around and said, "We need to finish these berries and see about getting things cleaned up a little." They both went to work on their shortcake. It was delicious.

They finished their berries about the same time; both sighed with pleasure, looked at each other and chuckled. Alfred said, "I love you."

She replied, "And I love you too dear husband." She smiled at him, then her expression changed and she said, "Our Auggie married an extraordinary woman Alfred. I think we have no idea how extraordinary she really is. Auggie knows, and that's enough for me."

"Once again my dear, I think you have it exactly right." As one, they got up, picked up their dishes off the table, and headed over to deal with them, and begin the cleanup. After the dishes were taken care of, Alfred turned to his wife of nearly fifty decades, opened his arms, and right there the two of them shared a delightful hug and a kiss, their way of celebrating the day.

Alfred saw Annie approaching looking better than she had a few minutes ago. She walked up grinning and said, "You have no idea how good that hug and kiss made me feel. You guys are so special." She looked around, and before they could respond said, "Is there any more of that shortcake around?"

Abigail said, "I have more in the fridge. Come on in and I'll make you up a dish. These are berries from the Oxnard Plain in California, and they are absolutely delicious. It's real whipped cream too, not the canned stuff. You are going to love this."

Annie said, "Why are we still here?" She grabbed a load of dishes and bounded up the steps and into the house."

Alfred said, "The young have such resilience."

"They do," Abigail said, "but I think she's putting a lot of miles on hers. I'd love to see her get pregnant; I think it might keep her safer."

Alfred said, "It might, but get in there before she changes her mind about the shortcake or some other jerk comes through the front door and she has to pound him into the ground."

Abigail said, "Bring enough dishes for both of us, I have a shortcake to fix," and did her seventy-year-old imitation of Annie's trip up the stairs to the door followed by Alfred's laughter.


More next week after the most awesome season premiere!