Flipping through the pages of the report, Anna sighed as she rolled her shoulders. Her left shoulder pulled at the motion and she winced at the twinge of pain that flared down to her fingers. Rubbing at the spot, and adjusting the strap on her sling so it stopped digging a groove into her skin, Anna turned back to the report. Before turning another page a voice from the door almost had her jumping but Anna relaxed when John entered.

"You save my life only to scare me half-to-death?"

"Not intentionally."

"Then you make a poor assassin."

"That's a quality compliment." He sat in one of the chairs, "I thought you could use the company… And maybe a distraction."

"Thank goodness for that." Anna motioned with her free hand before leaving the report on the side table. "This place is driving me absolutely mad."

"I don't think you're alone in that perspective." John settled into his chair and grimaced. "Most people think time spent in hospital is horrible."

"In that case," Anna raised her eyebrows at him, let them wiggle a moment. "Want to spring me and we'll escape together?"

"In another situation maybe. But-"

"But what?"

"But if I spring you then I'd have to face Ms. Shand and, for as much as I like you, I'll not be tempting fate with that move."

"Not even a little tempted?" Anna held up her fingers, less than a millimeter apart.

John shook his head. "Not a bit."

"Coward."

"In this case, proud to be so." John rolled his shoulders back into the chair. "Besides, they'll discharge you this afternoon and we'll still make tomorrow's flight."

"Good thing. I've got meetings that won't cancel for nuclear holocaust, much less a bullet-induced injury." Anna paused, "Speaking of Ms. Shand, does she have any word on the whereabouts of our attackers?"

"Other than them being very well-funded and that there's no sign of them, no." John shook his head again. "She's got feelers out with some people she knows but she's convinced that our attackers could be in Indonesia already. Or even as far as Thailand by now so she's not optimistic about getting any of them."

"That's not very hopeful."

"That part's not but there is some hope," John smiled, "The community center was unharmed by whomever came after us."

"That is good news." Anna leaned back into her pillows. "I couldn't imagine the hassle if we'd had to work out more funding for another one."

"You would've rebuilt it?"

"Of course." Anna gave a little shrug with her uninjured shoulder. "We've not got the whole place insured but… We would've covered it."

"Then I very much doubt that the center was the target." Anna turned to John and frowned at him so he continued. "If it was someone in your organization after the insurance payout, they would've been disappointed. Same with the cost of rebuilding, which you would've supplied in actual materials instead of money."

"It's safer that way."

"No doubt." John continued, "And since there wasn't a political statement, or any other statement, made involving the center…"

"You don't think it was a target at all?"

"It would seem that our attackers took care to make sure the center was never a part of the equation."

"Outside of sussing us out, it seems." Anna brought an arm across her body to gently massage at her shoulder. "Given all that…I'll offer a wild guess that you and Ms. Shand are convinced we were the actual targets?"

"The evidence is strong to the affirmative in that case."

"The evidence you already supplied?"

"And especially considering the only car hit was ours."

"Yeah, funny that." Anna closed her eyes a moment, half-smiling, "Perhaps it's a little flattering in a way…"

"Sorry?"

Anna snorted to herself and opened her eyes to look at John, "I said it's a bit flattering, in a way, to be so popular."

"That's one way to think about it."

"It's better than the alternative." Anna bit at her lip, "But I guess it's always more of a double-edged sword."

"Being popular?"

"Being a target." Anna sat up to turn toward John. "What's your opinion on it?"

"On being attacked?" John shook his head, "Not a fan."

"No, on the theory it was only our car that got hit." Anna pursed her lips, "Mr. Talbot and Mary weren't hurt in any way and the other car barely suffered more than a dented bumper. So, by process of elimination, one could assume-"

"That they were tracking a specific car?"

"Or…" Anna shuffled, "Maybe a specific person?"

"You think you were the target?" John shifted his jaw as Anna nodded. "Far be it from me to assume you're trying to hog the attention with that kind of supposition."

"Do you think I would do something like that for attention?"

"You? No. Other people…" John squirmed, "I've met a few willing to risk more than a little to get the limelight."

Anna snorted her laugh, "If only I was a glutton for that kind of punishment. I'd be well compensated for my trouble."

"Well, at the moment, I can't say definitively you were the target but given you're the one suffering the brunt of the media attention and you're the only one receiving threatening fan mail…" John sighed, "It's possible."

"Do you think it was those people in the crowd?" Anna hurried to explain herself as John's brow furrowed. "The ones that looked out of place. Like they were on edge or trying too hard to appear relaxed."

"You noticed that?"

"I may've only served my country for a few years in uniform but I'd like to think I could recognize the pressure of a possible threat."

"Then I'll tell you that I don't know but Talbot and I thought so." John shrugged, "If you think the center opening was them 'sussing us out' then… It stands to solid reason."

"Then, me being the possible target and those people lying in wait for us, suggests a few rather disturbing things."

"Such as?"

Anna sucked the inside of her cheek. "That someone knows our schedule."

"That's not a hard one to figure?"

"No?" Anna raised an eyebrow at John shaking his head, "What makes you so sure?"

"You published your schedule for that event."

"You mean the…" Anna shook her head, waving her good hand, "I don't mean the published schedule."

"Then what do you-"

"It's not about the itinerary but our process." Anna paused, "Whoever planned this was someone who'd know our protocols."

"Are those written anywhere?"

Anna's shoulders did a bit of a seesaw before she massaged at her injured one again. "Not so much written as practiced. It's a routine we build into what we do that, once someone's gotten to know us, isn't hard to figure out."

"Then you think it's a leak of someone close enough to know your methods?"

"Most definitely."

John paused, his teeth grating at his bottom lip a moment. "Then I've got to ask you something that might put us in a spot."

"What?"

"Are you worried about Ms. Shand or her people?"

"No, because she didn't know that I'd have Mary evacuated first." Anna's jaw worked like a fish struggling for air on land. "This isn't someone who's a hired hand. At least not someone who's only had the one emergency to work through. This was someone who knows me. Knows what I'd do in a situation like that."

"How many people can you say would know that?"

"Mr. Branson would, Mary, my security chief Mr. Moseley, and Phyllis…" Anna worked through the list. "But they know it because I've pulled rank on most of them to do what I did before."

"Has anyone else seen you pull that move before?"

"Mr. Branson, obviously, and some of our other security teams in dangerous circumstances." Anna's fingers drummed on the rail of her bed. "They used my personal protocol against me."

"Then it was personal?" John frowned, "But how often have you had a reason to put Mrs. Crawley in a car for a swift evacuation?"

"The last time was Mumbai." Anna met John's eyes again. "That was before Mr. Branson became our go-to man for security."

"Then it could be one of Green's men, who worked with you then?"

Anna worked her jaw, "Could be." The fingers on her good hand drummed harder a moment before snapping to point at John. "They never did find out where that money went. Maybe someone's back for a rematch."

"You think someone would do that?"

Anna went to shrug again before wincing and rubbing at her shoulder. "I've got to stop doing that to myself."

"It takes getting used to." John sighed, "But it won't be for long."

"No?"

John shook his head, "You'll get through it just fine and look back and wonder what all the fuss was about."

"You've no pity to offer then?"

"You don't need it." John smiled at her and Anna snorted. "Besides, I've only got so much pity and it's all being used at the moment."

"Oh?" Anna leaned toward him, resting her good elbow on the railing to put her chin on her folded fingers. "And where, pray tell, are you using all your pity?"

"On the poor bastards dumb enough to try and take out you in a car." John shuddered. "I have the utmost pity, no matter how horrible the person, for whomever angered Ms. Shand enough that she'd come after them. And she will go after them."

"You make it sound like she's going to hunt them to the end of the earth."

"She has the hunter's mind." John's eyes flicked toward the table and he pointed. "Did you enjoy reading the report?"

"I did, actually." Anna picked it up again. "You and Ms. Shand have a flair for trying to dodge attention thrown your way."

"You make that sound like a bad thing."

"It simply makes it difficult to assess which one of you did what when both of you are trying your hardest to pretend you were merely a spectator to the herculean efforts of the other." Anna met his gaze, "But neither of you really did yourselves justice in that."

"No?"

"No." Anna shook her head, "Regardless of how both of you think about the word 'hero', it's not misapplied in this instance."

"Ms. Smith, we merely-"

"If you say 'we merely did our jobs' I'll consider using this IV pole to knock sense into you." Anna waited as John's lips stretched into a barely-there smile. "You both saved my life. No matter which parts you did or didn't do, the two of you together saved my life and that's not a small thing to me."

"It may surprise you to know that it's not a small thing to me either." John stood and took the two steps he needed to reach the side of Anna's bed. "I was very serious about what I said in your hotel room."

"I'd hoped so." Anna's eyes flicked to the door and offered John a sad smile. "Another time, perhaps?"

Before he could speak the door opened and Mary breezed in, Mr. Talbot on her heels. "Ah, I see Mr. Bates has already told you the good news."

"If it's about me being released today then he did and thank goodness for it." Anna exaggerated her groan. "I'm this close to breaking myself out of here."

"Then it's a good thing you won't have to do that." Mary came to the edge of the bed, giving a momentary side-eye to John as he stepped back to speak with Talbot at the door. "And we'll be in the air by tomorrow afternoon. I've got Blake and Foyle working themselves overtime to make sure we're not delayed in any way on our end."

"You didn't need to go to extremes."

"I'd like to get out of the country where they attempted to murder you. If you don't then that's your problem, not mine." Mary sighed and leaned on the railing. "Are you alright? Other than your obvious injury, I mean."

"I'm well enough to travel and it'll barely scar."

"What'll Auggie say?"

"He'll think it's rather cool." Anna cringed, "Peter'll be less enthused by it but there won't be a scar by the time he gets back for leave."

"Good thing. He'd have more than a few choice words for Tom in other circumstances." Mary reached for the report on Anna's lap and thumbed through it, "Satisfied with the outcome?"

"I think Mr. Bates is a marvelous addition to the team and I'd like to see if we could contract Ms. Shand to leave our teams in Myanmar and Nepal."

"I couldn't agree more." Mary tucked the report under her arm before leaning closer to Anna. "Although I think having you and Mr. Bates so close together might lead to some… unprofessional behavior."

"He saved my life, Mary, I won't get rid of him after that."

"I wasn't saying get rid of him. I was suggesting we…" Mary shrugged her shoulders. "We could swap."

Anna raised her eyebrows, "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because it suggests that, perhaps, I'm not the only one with unprofessional thoughts, or intentions, toward my personal security." Anna winked at Mary, "We'd have to run it by Tom if we did want that."

"Why are you saying 'if'?"

"Because I'm not sure I want to swap." Anna let her eyes wander toward John a moment before meeting Mary's again. "I think he can protect me professionally while we explore the possibilities of less professional endeavors in our off-hours."

"You don't have 'off-hours', Anna. That's the problem." Mary sighed and tapped her free hand on the rail. "I'll go finish the paper work and our hand-shaking portion of the trip so you can get back to the hotel in relative peace."

"That's very kind of you."

"It's not kindness." Mary lifted her chin, as if to appear superior. "I don't need the wounded hero stealing the headline from the work we're doing here. If they don't see you then you can't become the story."

"I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly grateful I am that you just said that to me." Anna put her good hand over her heart, feigning tears. "To think that you'd put this trip over my personal interests and injuries is-"

"Get stuffed." Mary swatted at Anna with the report. "And get out of this hospital. I hate places like this."

"Seems the popular opinion." Anna waved Mary and Talbot out as John came back to the edge of her bed. "Well, it seems you can help spring me loose now. We're in the clear and I'd like to be anywhere but here at the moment."

"Anywhere?"

"Maybe not back in that Humvee at the bottom of a hill but give me another hour in here and I might reconsider my opinion." Anna took John's offered hand and maneuvered out of the bed. It took a few steps, walking each one gingerly in the provided slippers, for Anna to regain her normal gait so she could grab at the bag left near the room's small water closet. "If I scream, it means I fell in the shower."

"I thought you wanted to get out of here."

"I do. But if I go out in this," Anna tugged at the gown, "People'll talk."

"I wouldn't mind the view from behind."

"Because you think it might give you a view of my behind." Anna winked at him, closing the door. "Fifteen minutes."

True to her word, fifteen minutes later Anna emerged. Her hair still damp and the barest hint of makeup, but the refreshing sensation of a shower almost lifted her an inch off the ground. With a slight adjustment to her sling, and John's help getting the strap of the bag over her shoulder, Anna managed the walk out of hospital all on her own.

A walk right into the waiting maw of reporters.

"I thought Mary distracted the piranhas." Anna sighed, shaking her head from inside the doors as a few cameras flashed to try and catch pictures of her through the glass. She turned to John, "Any ideas on your end?"

"For?"

"Getting through the pack of hyenas who want to know how I'm doing, how I got here, and how I'll go about life now?"

"I'll assume the answers to those questions are relatively simple." John shrugged, "Just give them a short statement and then feign pain so I can whisk you into a car without looking like you're hiding something."

"You're far too good at your job to continue being just my bodyguard." Anna moved the bag off her shoulder and handed it to him, "Of you could call whichever of Ms. Shand's men is driving us back to the hotel, I'd be most grateful if that car would be here before I walk out those doors."

"No need." John nodded and Anna pivoted to see a car driving up, Shand behind the wheel. "Our salvation arrives."

"Thank gods." Anna took a deep breath and gave a nod to John. He led through the doors, holding them open and fending off any of the reporters who tried to get too close to Anna as she crossed the relatively short distance separating her from where Shand held the car door open. It was not until her good arm rested on the metal that Anna turned to address the gathered crowd.

"I'm sure you're all wondering how I got here, how I'm doing, and where I'm going next." She waited a beat, noting the slightest of eyerolls from John. "The answers to those questions, in their respective order, is as follows."

Anna cleared her throat, "I had a very bad car accident, I'm sore but doing well, and I'm going to get some sleep in a bed that isn't connected to a host of monitors before I fly back home tomorrow. For any and all other questions, you may phone the regional office of CS Consulting and Management for our official statement or more details. Thank you."

Sliding into her seat, Anna only had to wait a moment for John to join her and Shand to shut the door before she relaxed into the seat. A moment later they were off and merging into city traffic. Her audible sigh of relief drew a chuckle from John and Anna shifted her neck to look at him.

"What?"

"It's just funny." He shrugged, "Someone would think you'd survived something a little more complicated than a gauntlet of reporters just now."

"Let's not forget that I did survive a car rolling downhill and a gunshot wound." Anna tapped lightly at her injured shoulder.

"Not sure they compare."

"You're just jealous none of them asked you how you survived."

"I'm not a public figure." John gave a self-satisfied smirk. "That particular cross is yours to bear, Ms. Smith, and I'll leave it to you any day of the week."

"Coward." Anna shifted and called up toward the driver's seat. "And thank you, Ms. Shand. The doctors were all very impressed by the stitches they had to cut out of me."

"Were they now?"

"They thought maybe you had medical experience."

Shand gave a snort of her own, expertly maneuvering them through traffic. "Well, I did spend a little time working in a hospital at one point in my life so maybe some of it wore off on me."

"To my benefit." Anna settled back in her seat, "I do hope you've forwarded your report of events to Mr. Branson so he can give you the appropriate bonus for going above and beyond the call of duty."

"I'd not worry yourself too much about my compensation, Ms. Smith." Shand guided the car into the lot outside their hotel before turning to look at her. "Mr. Branson's never been one to skimp on a contract."

"And I'm sure he's very grateful he didn't have to pay out any insurance on my life or any lost limbs because of your excellent work." Anna extended her good hand. "It's been a pleasure, Ms. Shand, and I do hope you'll consider the offer to continue with us through the rest of our Asian tour when we head to Myanmar."

"If I've nothing else to do and I've not caught the bastards who tried to kill you," Shand shook Anna's hand once before releasing. "Then I'd be happy to work for you again. It's been… An enjoyable adventure, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Far be it from me to judge what someone considers adventure." Anna smiled back at her, "And I wish you luck on finding our perpetrators. I've a few words I'd like to share with them… If that'll be possible."

"I've a few feelings I'll need to get out of them first."

"Will they still be breathing when you're finished with them?"

"They might have trouble speaking but they'll still be breathing."

"Then it's impressive that you'll be keeping some things to yourself." John leaned forward to give Shand a handshake as well. "It's been an honor."

"Likewise, Mr. Bates." She twisted slightly as John opened the door, "And if you ever get tired of working directly for Mr. Branson, I'd like to have you work with me."

"Not sure either of us would be ready for that." John's extended hand helped Anna from the car. "And not sure I'd keep up with you."

"It's a bit more of the wild west here, for sure, but that just makes it more interesting." Shand shrugged and turned back in her seat. "I'll finish out the reports and accompany you to the airport tomorrow afternoon. I've got teams in there around the clock to make sure you'll not be disturbed."

"Thank you." Anna noted the four security agents waiting just inside the hotel doors for them. "For everything."

"It's all part of the job." Shand nodded and drove off, the car peeling almost silently before disappearing into city traffic.

"That woman gets more interesting the more I find out about her." Anna rubbed gingerly at her shoulder as she and John pivoted to head inside the hotel. "It's almost as if her life keeps restarting with each new thing she does."

"It's got to be because she's Asian."

"Excuse me?" Anna scoffed as John hit the button for the lift. "I don't know if I should say something about the potential racism in that comment but-"

"It's not an insult." John held the doors back for Anna to enter the lift and then followed her with two of the security agents. "It's the way most individuals of Asian ethnicity never age."

"I'm sure they do."

"Not like us." John pointed to his face. "I'll get craggy and wrinkle and go white while everything about me falls about. That's genetics. Ms. Shand, on the other hand, will continue to look like she's the ambiguous age of anywhere between twenty and seventy until the moment she hits eighty. That means she can, quite literally, restart her life at will for five decades without anyone being the wiser."

"Now you're just being ridiculous."

"Tell me you've never misjudged the age of someone of Asian descent and I'll take back everything I just said." John waited but Anna only frowned. "See?"

"That's not relevant." Anna waved the comment away with her good hand as they reached their floor. "What's really relevant is where she was going. And why was she our chauffeur today."

"Because…" John paused and jerked his head toward the room. "Best to talk inside I think. Too many ears out here."

"Like we've not got ears in the room." Anna smiled at the their security, "As wonderful as it is to have all my movements watched to make sure no one tries to break in and kill me."

"Given the sling around your arm is a testimony to someone wanting to kill you," Joh followed Anna into the room and closed the door. "I'd say you could stand to be a little less flippant about it."

"And you could stand to explain where all this attitude is coming from." Anna traced John's form in the air with a finger. "I remember when you were stoic and silent."

"Did you prefer that?"

"I'm not sure." Anna sat on one of the sofas and reclined back. "There are pros and cons to both incarnations of you. This one's just new."

"It's the cost of saving your life." John settled on the edge of the other sofa. "And Ms. Shand's received an alterative assignment."

"From whom?"

"Technically? Herself. Unofficially it's…" John squirmed, "She and I hatched a bit of a plan together."

"Oh?" Anna sat straighter, "And if I were to guess that she's taken that silent car and whatever leads she has to track down some certain someones… would I be wrong?"

"No." John shook his head, "You'd be very correct."

"Then she's gone hunting?"

"Yes."

Anna might have flopped back into the sofa if not for the sling on her arm and the inevitable echo of pain the motion would have radiated from her shoulder. "And you came up with this idea with her?"

"It's what I could do." John's jaw flexed. "I can't chase them down myself. I've not got the connections someone needs to delve into the underworld… Or chase someone over borders. Shand, on the other hand, knows all the wrong people in all the right places and all the right people in all the wrong places. Friends on the other side… And in lower places than I can imagine."

"That's not exactly a ringing endorsement."

"People in our line of work tend to mix with the sort of people not usually invited to your gala dinners and garden parties." John winced, "Or even informal occasions."

"Now you make me sound like a snob." Anna huffed, "But I do miss that shadow of her menacing presence all the same."

"Do you?"

"Of course," Anna smiled at John. "How else would I feel bad for asking for something that'll have us turning off the cameras?"

John blinked, "You want the cameras turned off?"

"I'd very much like that." Anna leaned forward. "Because I want to soundly snog you, John, and I'd rather not have an audience."

She could have laughed at the sight of him moving toward the door but it would have died just as quickly as her smile did when his lips met hers.