Collide T Minus 446 Days – January 2009

"Henry thanks for coming by." Hal Kelly extended his hand to his Director of Clandestine Services.

Henry tried to hide his distain for his new boss as he shook his hand firmly. "When the Director of National Intelligence calls, you come." Henry said before taking a seat in one of the leather armchairs across from Hal's desk.

"I'm still getting my feet wet so to speak." Hal settled back into his chair, he was enjoying the authority that the office brought.

"You've been around the block a few times, Hal. There's no getting your feet wet anymore." Henry knew that Hal had a long career in the Air Force and at the Pentagon. He wasn't a rookie at this.

"Maybe.."

"So, why am I here?" Henry lowered his eyelids a bid, he was annoyed by this whole exercise.

"I just want to make sure we're on the same page." Hal started. "And the same page as the President."

"And what page is that?"

"We're not enjoying, how shall I say it, the best reputation in the International intelligence community."

"We shouldn't." Henry said angrily, "We should be feared."

"We are and many say we're not playing fair."

"There is no rules when our National security is at stake. We're the God damned United States. We're the biggest bully on the block and frankly I like it that way."

" You may like it, but he President does not." Hal leaned forward on the desk; he wasn't about to take any crap from Henry Wilcox. What was even better; is that the President told him he didn't have to.

"Miss Walker, thank you for coming back. " Phillip Duncan said as he opened the door of the conference room at the Smithsonian.

"I was rather surprised to get your call." Annie said taking a seat at the conference table.

"And why was that?" Phil joined her at the table.

"Don't get me wrong, I was happy to hear from you…"

"Miss Walker, we feel that you are uniquely qualified for the position we're looking to fill."

"Really?"

"Really." Phil nodded toward the mirror and Annie turned around to look at it.

"What's going on here?" She was prepared for a second interview, but something just didn't feel right.

"What are your instincts telling you?"

Annie leaned forward in her chair, ready to leap at any moment. "That this is not what it seems…"

"You're correct." Arthur Campbell said entering the room.

"The President would like you to scale back your black ops. The results for the most part have been successful, but.."

"Are you talking about the mission that went awry in Istanbul?"

"That and the one that nearly killed one of our Special Ops agents outside Tikrit last summer.

Damned Anderson, he was never going to shake that one. "That was a fluke."

"You need to scale things back, go by the book. Follow protocol."

"Protocol, my ass. Have you been talking to Lila Ferguson?"

"No, I have not. But the President does listen to the heads of his committees."

'This is bullshit and you know it." Henry stood up and leaned forward on the desk.

Hal stood up as well, his full height revealed. He looked down on Wilcox. "Henry this is not a negotiation, you will follow these orders, they come directly from the President."

"I…I don't understand…" Annie stammered.

"It's okay, Phil," Arthur took a seat conference table. "I can take it from here."

Phil got up and quietly left the room.

"What is going on? Are you from the Smithsonian?" Annie asked.

"No, I'm not."

"Am I in trouble?"

"We'll soon find out." Arthur said mysteriously, he usually didn't get involved in this stage of recruiting, but this was a special instance. And this recruit had a special role. "Do you know what a Non-Official Cover is?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"No. But you interviewed for one."

"I thought I was interviewing for a position in the acquisitions department."

"That's what you'll tell your friends and family when you join us…"

"Join us? Just who is 'us' ?" Annie knew this was a strange interview from the beginning, but now she was getting worried.

"We are the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA." Arthur said proudly. "And we would like you to join us."

Annie leaned back in her chair trying to keep her mouth from gaping open. Did she just hear him right; the CIA wanted her to work for them. "I..I don't understand."

"Anne Catherine Walker, I believe you have what we need and I would like you to consider joining the CIA."

Collide T Minus 444 Days – January 2009

"Where are you going? I thought you were going to stay in DC for a while?" Danielle asked as she watched her little sister throw clothes in her carry-on suitcase.

"I am, I'm not…" Annie said as she tossed more things in the suitcase not even bothering to fold them.

"You've been weird ever since your interview with the Smithsonian." Danielle grabbed Annie's hands. "What is going on?"

"Nothing." Annie lied.

"You've been distracted and distant."

"No, I haven't." Annie wriggled her hands away from her sister's and went back to packing.

"Annie!"

"What?"

"What is going on?"

"Nothing, really." Annie stopped for a moment, "I just need to get away for a few days and think." She said closing her suitcase.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know, but I will be back in a few days. I promise."

"That's what you said last spring and you didn't come back for almost a year."

"I'm taking my key." Annie said dangling the key in front of her sister's face. "I'll be back."

Collide T Minus 442 Days- January 2009

Annie stared out the window of the Coaster Train that she had taken from Lindberg Airfield in San Diego. Even in the gloom of the rainy day, the crashing waves of the California coastline were somewhat comforting. She loved the ocean and she loved the beach. That was one of the reason's she wanted to visit Sri Lanka in the first place. Now, here she was thousands of miles from that beach where she and Ben fell in love. She couldn't believe everything that had happened in the last seven months. Today she was staring down one of the biggest decisions of her life.

"Happy New Year Dad." Jai said as soon as he heard his father's voice.

"If you say so." Henry grumbled into the receiver of the phone. "Where the hell are you?"

"Still in Cairo, I was following Mercer's girlfriend for Arthur."

Henry remembered Arthur reading him in on Jai's work with Mercer's girlfriend and how he stumbled onto and stopped a plot to blow up resorts around Suez. "Oh yeah."

"Dad is something up?" Jai asked, he father seemed more distracted than usually.

"Nothing I can't handle." Henry answered.

"Okay." Jai didn't really buy his father's answer, but he knew better than to question Henry Wilcox. "So where do you need me next?"

Henry looked at the reports scattered across his desk, he really wasn't concerned about where Jai would be needed next; he didn't need him in his hair in the States. He picked up a report and skimmed it. "John Rochman is down a guy in London. Why don't you head there."

"You sure?" Jai knew London was usually fully staffed and it was an assignment most CIA field agents asked for. "I thought there was a waiting list for London." Jai had made the fatal mistake, questioning his father.

"Just go and don't ask why. Got it." Henry growled.

"Got it." Jai said disconnecting the phone. Sometimes he wondered what his mother ever saw in Henry Wilcox.

"Daddy…" Annie exclaimed as soon as she saw her father on the train platform.

"Annie.." Jack Walker swept his younger daughter up in his arms. "I was so surprised to get your call."

"I know." Annie pulled her luggage behind him as they headed toward the elevator that would bring them up to street level. "I just needed to see you and ask your advice."

"That's new." Jack nudged her as they got onto the elevator.

"Daddy…."

Auggie walked down the main hallway of the Langley headquarters, the sound of his cane hitting the marble floor echoed from every direction making it hard to distinguish the different noises of his surroundings. He thought he heard a rush of air coming from a door opening to his left.

"Auggie.." Joan fell into step with him.

"Morning, Joan." Auggie smiled continuing to count his steps.

"I wanted to ask you about…" Joan began only to realize that Auggie wasn't really paying attention to her. "Auggie…"

Auggie stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced his boss. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, but I'm not quite good enough at this route to do it without counting the steps."

Joan could feel the color filling her cheeks; she'd almost forgotten that the simple task of walking down the hall was difficult for him. "I saw you holding on to Stacie's arm, would you like to do that with me?"

"It's called a sighted lead." Auggie said reaching for her arm. "When you want to offer assistance, brush the back of my hand and I'll reach for your elbow. Then we walk, you just have to remember that I'm next to you and don't run me into anything. And warn me before there's a step or a door." He said as they slowly walked together down the hallway. "So what did you want to ask me about?"

"Sweetie, why did you come back so soon?" Jack Walker asked his daughter as soon as they were alone inside the car.

"I just.. I don't know. I needed to see you. Talk to you."

"I'm here." Jack said reaching over and putting his hand on his daughter's.

"Not here, not now. Want to take a jog on the beach a little later?"

"Not exactly the nicest day out there…" Jack remarked looking out the window at the rare San Diego day that wasn't sunny.

"So we take a shower while we run."

Jack smiled at Annie, he knew something was bothering her, he just didn't know what and once again, he didn't know how to get her to open up to him.

T Minus 441 Days – January 2009

"You can still beat me any day of the week." Annie said stopping in the sand and putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"I can and I'm proud of that." Jack stopped next to his daughter. "Feel better?"

"Actually I do." Annie leaned against a large rock on the beach. "There's something about this place that clears my head."

"I think so too.' Jack climbed up on the rock, barely escaping the surging tide.

Annie ran away from the tide and then returned to join him on the rock, the two of them sat in silence for a moment watching the rhythm of the waves.

"So, are you ready to talk?"

"You have to promise you won't tell Mom." Annie looked over at her father.

"That depends."

"Dad, please."

"All right, what's bugging you?"

"A job offer."

Jack ruffled his brow, "A job offer?"

"It's not just any job offer…" Annie wondered if talking to her dad was the right move. "The CIA wants me to join them."

Living in the basement of the United States Embassy in London left John Rochman feeling like a cave dweller. Some days he rarely saw the daylight and when he did it was for a brief passing moment. He was down a man since one of his team rotated back to the States, so his hours of daylight seemed even more fleeting than they were before. He heard that King Henry had assigned someone new to him, but he didn't know whom, until..

"John Rochman?"

John looked up from his computer monitor to see who was calling his name. His heart sank when he discovered who it was. Jai Wilcox. He had never met the man, but he knew who he was. It really wasn't his year, getting CIA royalty assigned to his station. "I'm John Rochman." He got up from his chair and went over to Wilcox, extending his hand.

"Jai Wilcox."

"I know…" John said lowering his shoulders.

Jai could read the body language of his new boss, "Don't worry, I'm not here to report to my father."

"Uh huh.."

"I just got off a world tour of an assignment, finishing in Cairo. I'm ready for a little down time. I hear London is the Club Med of all European assignments." Jai took off his suit jacket and grabbed a cup of burned coffee.

"Yep, this is Club Med all right." John laughed at Jai's assessment of his station.

"Just put me to work and don't send me back to Langley any time soon."

John patted the younger Wilcox on the back; maybe he was going to be okay.

Jack Walker looked at his daughter with a combination of pride and disbelief. He couldn't believe what she had just shared with him. "The CIA?"

Annie took in a deep breath, "Yes. The CIA."

Jack tried to read his daughter's feelings, but good, bad or indifferent, she didn't let on what she was thinking. "So are you asking for my blessing?"

"Yes..no… well maybe."

He thought about his career in the Army and the places it took his family. It was a hard but good life, but raising a family in the service of your country was never easy. "Well, you should think long and hard about it. Think about what you want out of life, where you want to be in ten years, do you want a family. I know you love to travel, so that's a good way to pay for it instead of your grandma's money."

Annie nudged her father, he approved of the way she spent her inheritance, but he still had to pick on her a little. "It's just that is sounds scary and dangerous."

"I would imagine it is, but you would be serving your country."

"Just like my Daddy." She said with pride in her voice.

Jack smiled at her, "Well, the Army and CIA are completely different animals."

"I know."

"You can't tell your mother, she would freak out."

"Or Dani either."

"That would send her off the deep end."

"Do you think I should do it?" Annie asked, she really wanted to do this, but she was afraid to say yes.

"I think you should follow your heart and instincts." Jack hugged his daughter. "If your heart says yes and your first instinct is to go for it. Then do it."

"Thanks Daddy.." Annie said giving him a kiss on the forehead.

Note: This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but it seemed like a natural place to stop. Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter up early next week. Life is a little chaotic here—but good. Gotta love when your hometown team –the Packers—are in the Super Bowl.

Thanks for reading.

-M