AN: As always, I do not own Covert Affairs or any of the characters I'm using. This chapter is an interlude to the overarching Annie/Eyal story, I wanted to establish the friendships and relationships that Annie has before starting to really deviate from the Covert Affairs story line. Next chapter will start off just as Season 3 does but then deviates quite a bit, with bits and pieces of the canon story popping up on occasion. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!
Dreaming Through Regret
Interlude – Count on Me
Leaving Eyal to get on the trawler waiting for her in the Baltic was almost harder than him leaving to go back to Tel Aviv after he took down the Cardinal. Annie was beyond grateful that Eyal had come to Stockholm to help her. She had spent a majority of her time on the trawler and on her flight back to DC working out what her version of the events should be. Eventually she concluded that the best way to approach the situation was to say that she had shot their pursuer herself. The CIA would not likely debrief her sister, but she already had Danielle's assurance that she would not mention Eyal being in Stockholm.
Danielle was taking this whole situation better than Annie had expected. She had not peppered her with questions or lectured her about her job not being safe. In fact, Danielle had pulled a complete 180 from her prior stance and had invited Annie to move back into the guest house. Annie, while thrilled at being asked to return, was also confused at the change. She figured that she would ask Danielle about it when they sat down to talk through Stockholm and Eyal later.
Langley had arranged for transportation to take Danielle home once they landed at Dulles as well as a car to take her to the office. Annie promised to come home as soon as she could after getting through all the debriefs and after op paperwork. Danielle left her with a hug and a promise of rocky road ice cream. Annie got into the car heading to the CIA Headquarters and what she guessed would be multiple hours spent with Joan debriefing on the whole Stockholm fiasco.
Joan and Auggie both greeted her as she entered the DPD and Auggie handed her a cup of coffee and a murmured hello. She followed Joan into her office and began the long process of walking her through the happenings in Sweden. Joan began her questions by asking about Danielle's presence in Stockholm.
"What was your sister doing with you in Stockholm?"
"Joan, that trip was supposed to be a vacation, not a work trip. I invited her to come with me after she found out her husband was cheating on her. I thought she could use the time away from home and my nieces to work through what she wanted to do in regard to her marriage."
"Why didn't you tell Auggie about Danielle when he called?"
"Auggie made the mission seem like a quick exchange, I didn't see the need to tell him when it should have only taken a half a day to complete."
"Okay, but next time make sure to let us know when you are traveling with your sister or any family member really. It lets us plan for all contingencies."
"Of course Joan, I won't underestimate another mission again either."
"Annie, you are on your way to becoming one of the best operatives I've had in the DPD. Experience is earned, and usually earned through mistakes."
"Thanks Joan, I appreciate that. Who was the man following us?
"The man following you was Nils Crofft, the CIA used to contract him for black ops, but he turned on us."
"So he followed us because Danielle and I knew what he looked like, right?"
"It seems that way. What happened at the cottage Annie? How did he even know where to find you?"
"Danielle listed the cottage as the delivery location for her luggage that the airline had lost, I imagine he tracked down the form she left at the airport. When we got to the cottage a massive storm was rolling through and it was late at night, so dark I couldn't see much beyond the dock where the boat was. We decided to wait until the storm cleared and dawn broke so we could see what we were doing. As the boat was being readied to sail, Nils pulled into the cottage drive. Danielle and I hid, and when I thought we were in the clear I sent her running towards the dock. Nils must have seen her, she was wearing a bright red coat, and he started shooting at her. When I went back to Petr's and found him dead there, I took his gun, so I pulled that out and headed out to find Nils. I shot him. It was easier than I thought it would be and harder at the same time. All I could think about was getting Danielle home. I dropped the gun in the Baltic once we were well on our way. We met the trawler Auggie sent for us, and you know the rest."
"So it was just you, Danielle, and… Magnus? The man who owned the cottage?"
"Yes, just us and then Nils."
"Okay Annie, anything else you want to add to the commentary you've already provided?"
"No, that's everything Joan."
Joan made one last notation in the file she had open in front of her then she closed it before looking at Annie once more.
"Are you okay Annie? I know this is the first time you've shot someone in the field."
"I honestly don't know yet Joan. I haven't slept yet and everything seemed to happen so fast and yet so slowly at the same time. I remember being incredibly scared about Danielle and I can't seem to forget the weight of the gun in my hands."
"Annie, that all is very normal. I remember feeling similarly to what you just described after my first time shooting someone. As you know there are mandatory counseling sessions that all agents have to go through after this, every time, not just the first time. But I also want you to know that my door is always open, it's sometimes more helpful to talk to someone else who has gone through this than it is to talk with the therapists."
Annie was slightly surprised at Joan's offer. She inherently knew that it wasn't proffered to every agent. Being a female field operative in the CIA was rare, and Annie had been looking for a mentor, whether she consciously knew it or not. Joan had not only been a female field operative, she had been a damn good one, and now she led her own department. Annie found herself wondering why it hadn't crossed her mind to lean on Joan more in the past couple of years.
"Thank you Joan. I will keep that in mind. Does it ever get easier?"
"Easier? No. Less shocking? Yes. Go home Annie. Get some rest and take the rest of your time off to relax. We will see you back here in a couple of days."
"Thanks again, Joan."
Annie, with permission from Joan, used one of the CIA drivers to take her back to her sister's Georgetown home. She had parked her little red VW there when they left for Stockholm as it was safer than the street parking at her safe house. It was late afternoon by the time she walked into the kitchen to find her sister. Danielle was waiting there for her, a plate of food ready for her.
"I thought you might like to actually eat something before we dug into the Rocky Road. I noticed that you didn't eat anything on the flight back from Europe."
"Thanks Danielle. This looks fantastic. Go ahead and ask your questions, I'll answer them around eating."
"Where have you been hiding that handsome man of yours?"
"Israel."
"You've never been to Israel. How did you meet? How long have you known him? How long have you been dating?"
"Whoa, Danielle! One question at a time. True, I've not been to Israel. I actually met Eyal on my first mission, so I've known him for almost 2 years. I can't tell you more than that, which I know isn't a lot."
"Have you been seeing him all this time?"
"No, we ran into each other again in Paris and then again here in DC. He was hurt here in DC and that made us both realize we wanted to be together. That was about 5 weeks ago."
"Slow burn there much, Annie?"
"We've known each other for 2 years, but we'd only seen each other 3 times before we got together. Stockholm was the 4th time we'd been together."
"Wow. So why can't anyone know he was there?"
"Eyal works for a competing agency. It's frowned upon to date internationally, let alone another agent from another agency, at the CIA."
"Do you really think you can keep it a secret forever?"
"I don't know Danielle. I know I need to be with him, and I don't know another way to do that right now."
Annie had just polished off her plate of food and Danielle could sense that she didn't want to keep talking about Eyal so she changed the topic.
"Will it ever be safe for me to go on vacation with you?" Danielle asked, only slightly joking.
"Yes, of course Danielle. I hadn't informed the agency that you were with me so when they asked me to run the mission they thought I was alone. I was seriously warned against doing that again."
"Okay, and the girls, they aren't in danger either?"
"Not if I can do anything about it. I had no idea that I was going to encounter radioactive substances that would require a sweep of your house Danielle. My boss would have never sent me on that mission if she had known either. I will do everything I possibly can to keep the girls safe."
"Honestly, after Stockholm, I'd feel safer if you moved back into the guest house."
"Are you sure Danielle? I'd love to but I don't want to cause any problems."
"Yes, Annie. I want you to move back in."
"I'll pack my things up and bring them over tomorrow."
"Good, it'll be nice having you back, the girls will be thrilled."
After sharing a pint of rocky road with Danielle Annie headed over to her safe house. The first thing she did was pull out her encrypted phone to text Eyal.
'Home safe. Debriefed and chatted with Danielle. She wants me to move back into the guest house. Enjoy the Israeli beaches for me.'
Then Annie set about packing her clothes and personal items up. As much as she wanted to move everything back to the guest house she knew that keeping the safe house was for the best. She ended up with 5 boxes and a couple suitcases, one of which was still open for her to put her toiletries into after she showered in the morning.
As she was getting ready to turn in for the night 2 texts came through, one on each of her phones. One from Eyal and one from Auggie.
'Someday we will experience the Israeli beaches together. Goodnight Neshama'
Eyal's text made her smile, happy that he had made it back to Israel with no mishaps.
'Come by my place tomorrow? Ficus trees do not fare well under unseeing eyes.'
Annie wondered what Auggie's real reason for asking her to swing by was as her ficus would be able to last a few days without being babied.
'Yeah, I'll swing by after unpacking at Danielle's'
After replying to Auggie she crawled under the covers and fell quickly asleep.
The next day started off great as Annie and Danielle unpacked all of Annie's things into the closet and bathroom of the guest house. Both were excited that Annie was back. They spent most of the morning organizing the plethora of shoes and clothes Annie had as well as making up the bed again. Annie had only one task she had to do on her own, reinstalling the safe in the window seat. After wrapping up in the guest house they both went over to the main kitchen for lunch. Danielle pulled together a quick meal of pasta and salad that they both ate with gusto. After cleaning up the kitchen Danielle headed out to pick up the girls from her mother's house and Annie headed over to meet up with Auggie.
Once again Auggie was in the parking garage attached to his apartment building, though this time he was just pulling the cover off of his beautiful Corvette. He heard the sound of Annie's heeled boots on the concrete and looked in her direction with a smile.
"Hey Walker!"
"Where can a girl find a ficus around here?"
"About the ficus… ah, don't give a live plant to a blind guy. Sorry."
"It's okay."
"Thanks for coming by. How are you?"
"I'm doing okay, Joan helped a lot yesterday."
"Good, she cares about you and wants you to do well."
"I know, it's just the first time she has so blatantly shown that to me. It was kind of amazing, to have someone like Joan invested so much in me."
"I know the feeling. I actually wanted to talk to you about something and Joan pushed me to do so, she reminded me that I have friends at the agency who care about me as more than a handler."
"So what's up, friend?"
"I'm seeing someone, pretty seriously. I'm actually heading to the airport in a couple hours to fly to see her."
"You are?! Congrats, Auggie. You deserve to have someone in your life like that. Tell me about her."
"Her name is Parker, she's the little sister of one of my army buddies who died in Iraq. I met her at a memorial for him and we just meshed. She's amazing Annie. Parker is with the Peace Corps in Eritrea right now. I'm flying to see her this afternoon."
"Auggie, Eritrea is dangerous, women's rights are virtually non existent."
"I know Annie, and so does Parker. But she is so excited about getting to do good in the world and I want to support her."
"Okay Auggie, then let me support you in supporting her. You call me directly if anything goes sideways. I'll do everything I can to help. Does Parker know you're CIA? Have you read her in yet?"
"Not yet, but I will."
"Do it soon, I know first hand what waiting too long can do to a relationship."
"True. One last thing before I head out.." Auggie handed Annie the keys to the Corvette. "I can't drive it anymore, so I want someone who appreciates it to have it."
"Auggie, I couldn't…"
"Yes, you can. Now you just have to drive me to the airport." Auggie returned with a smile.
"Okay, friend, let's get you on your way."
