AN: Happy Friday! As always, I do not own Covert Affairs or any of the characters. Reviews and constructive criticism always welcome!
Dreaming Through Regret
Chapter 14 - Even If It's Just Pretend
Annie sat, once again, on the roof of the My City Hotel, eyes trained on the entrance to the Savoy Boutique Hotel. Over the last four days she had noted every time she saw Fischer arrive and depart from the hotel and she had finally pieced together a partial routine. Each morning between 830 and 9 Fischer walked down the street to get Coffee from a cafe called the Reval. Eyal watched Fischer from the benches in front of Club Hollywood and had been able to follow him the third day. Fischer had hailed a taxi in front of the cafe and Eyal managed to get another taxi to follow the one Fischer was in. The taxi delivered Fischer to a real estate agency called Kurg & Korsten Kinnisvarabüroo, which confirmed that he was there in search of property.
The night before, Annie and Eyal had decided that if they didn't come up with anything new that day, they'd continue their surveillance through the night.. The days were long and boring, trapped on a rooftop, separated from Eyal physically, though she could see him from her rooftop vantage. The nights, however, more than made up for those long days. They were everything she'd imagined they would be. She and Eyal spent hours talking about everything from the mission to their lives, their habits, their interests followed by hours wrapped up in each other. It was truly the first time they had been able to spend more than a few days in a row together uninterrupted by anything other than the mission they were jointly running.
Annie had known from the first playful interchange they'd had about the French Riviera and his quip about spending time on the beach that she'd found a kindred soul. What she hadn't expected was for that feeling to grow, to realize she'd found her other half, her home, in that handsome, irritating, brash Israeli. A slight smile crossed her face as she remembered their early encounters, before they'd allowed themselves to actively feel anything for the other.
Movement from the hotel entrance caught her eye, the doors opened and reflected the setting sun back into her eyes. After a moment her vision cleared and she saw that Fischer had left the hotel and was headed away from her for the first time since they'd started surveilling him. She saw Eyal stand from his bench and tuck the newspaper he had been reading under his arm as he started to follow at a distance.
Eyal saw Fischer exit his hotel and head away from Annie's location, which was a deviation from his normal routine. He looked up at Annie and saw her following Fischer's movements before standing to follow the man's path. He was both relieved and thankful for this alteration, he had not been thrilled at the idea of an overnight stakeout. Tallinn was pleasant during the day this late in the summer but the nights were quite cool, especially compared to the nights he'd spent with Annie over the last several days.
Fischer led Eyal to Tammsaare Park, and Eyal thought that he was heading to the POMO Restorante at first, but the man bypassed the restaurant. Fischer instead headed towards the open circle courtyard just passed the restaurant. Eyal took a seat on one of the first benches in the courtyard and pulled out his phone and dialed Annie's number.
"Hello Neshama, I'm outside the symphony hall, how far out are you?" Eyal started his conversation with Annie.
"Are you in any danger?" Annie asked quietly from her rooftop.
"I'm fine, I can wait for you here, no rush."
"Has anyone showed up?"
"No, it's a beautiful evening, Neshama, I can watch the sunset while I wait."
"Okay, Bayit. Stay safe. Call me if you need backup."
"Ani ohev otach." Eyal offered Annie before hanging up, knowing that his use of Hebrew would reassure her of his safety more than anything else would.
Behind him he heard footsteps approaching from the opposite side of the courtyard. He pulled out his phone once more and used the camera to see behind him. A dark haired woman walked right up to Fischer before handing him a package and then starting a whispered conversation. He took several snapshots with his phone before closing the camera and playing his ringtone.
He picked up the fake call stating, "Hello, Neshama! Yes, I'll meet you at the entrance to the hall. See you soon." as he began walking out of the courtyard.
He sent a quick message to Annie, 'Meet me outside the hotel, I'll be there in 10.'
Annie quickly gathered her gear and packed it up in her bag before heading down 3 flights of stairs to the entrance of the hotel. Eyal turned the corner as she stepped out onto the street, he pulled out his phone as he approached her and handed it to her, one of the photos he had taken on its screen.
"I think that it's Lena Smith." Annie told Eyal as they started walking back towards their hotel.
"Given your description of her, I agree with you." Eyal responded as he wrapped an arm around Annie's shoulders.
Trusting Eyal to guide her, she zoomed into the image a bit, and, though the photo of the woman was in profile, it definitely looked like Lena. She sent the message to her phone before handing Eyal's back to him.
"I honestly didn't think we would figure out who the mole was here. I figured I'd have to do some groveling back at Langley after having to explain that Fischer had departed."
"We got extremely lucky, Neshama. The chances of Fischer meeting his CIA contact here in Tallinn were quite low. I expected to have to continue tracking him for a few weeks before catching sight of that meeting."
Annie stowed her phone away, mentally drafting the message she would send to Auggie with the picture for verification that it was definitely Lena Smith. The rest of the walk back to their hotel was spent in comfortable silence, with Annie resting her head on Eyal's uninjured shoulder.
Upon entering their hotel room, Annie plugged her phone into her laptop and started drafting an email to Auggie.
Auggie,
I followed Fischer today and photographed a meet he had near the Tallinn Opera Hall. I believe the person he met with is Lena Smith. Can you verify that using the attached photo?
Annie
"Joan, how fast can you get up here?" Auggie asked hurriedly over the phone.
"Heading up now." came Joan's response.
After hanging up the phone Auggie pulled up the image Annie had emailed him, ready to run diagnostics on it if necessary. Joan entered the room just as he had finished launching the diagnostic tool.
"What is it, Auggie?"
"Come look at this photo Annie sent." Auggie beckoned Joan over to look at his screen. "I want to hear from you who it is before I start diagnostics."
"Auggie, that is, without a doubt, Lena Smith. How long ago was this?"
"The timestamp says it was taken about 45 minutes ago. Diagnostics should tell us more, if we even need that at this point."
"Can we tap into any camera systems in Tallinn? Can we follow her?" Joan asked.
"Let's find out." Auggie replied before he started typing on his keyboard.
Joan pulled one of the chairs from in front of Auggie's desk behind it so she could watch him work. She was consistently amazed at just how adept he was at his job, that he refused to let his blindness become a roadblock. Window after window started popping up on his computer screen, each one a new camera for his facial recognition program to search. For a while the windows would disappear after a few moments, but slowly the windows stayed open.
"Lena headed straight for the port, Joan. I'm pulling up the passenger manifests now. Maybe we will get lucky and she'll head for one of the Scandinavian countries and not for St. Petersburg." Auggie breathed out, frustrated at the turn of events.
"Don't hold your breath on that one Auggie. She'll head straight for Russia knowing that we are likely getting closer to figuring out who the mole is." Joan contradicted, knowing Lena's typical MO.
"Damn it, there she is, on the manifest to St. Petersburg. The ship leaves in 15 minutes, there is no way Annie can get there in time to pull her off." Auggie declared a few moments later.
"Don't tell her until the ship has departed. I know she's been less reckless, but this may prove too much for her to ignore." Joan replied quietly.
"Let me check Fischer's tracker, then I'll draft a reply to Annie." Auggie said before pulling up the window that showed the tracker. "He is still at the hotel, for now at least."
"That's promising. We should get Annie access to that so she can track his movements as well."
"Already on it, just have to get her the install."
"We haven't really talked about your suspicion that Annie has help on the ground with her. Have you made any progress on that?" Joan asked after Auggie had finished typing out his response to Annie.
Auggie sighed loudly and then leaned back in his chair, spinning towards Joans voice. "Yes, but I don't know what to make of it."
"Really? I didn't expect you to find anything, especially so quickly." Joan stated, slightly taken aback by his statement.
"Well, he didn't even try to hide. Used his own passport, didn't evade cameras, even documented his weapon for his flights."
"Just who are you talking about here?"
"Joan, take a minute and think about it. We know it's not anyone inside this agency. Annie would never risk her family or friends for this. Who else would she turn to?"
Joan sat thinking for a couple minutes before it all clicked into place. "Eyal Lavin."
"Got it in one."
"They've met, what, three times? I didn't think they were any more than passing accomplices when their ops overlapped."
"Eyal got her through Zurich when all hell broke loose here and we couldn't help her. She went back for him in Paris, he even shot a man to protect her there."
"And the whole thing with the Cardinal here, she stayed involved in that even after the debacle with the FBI."
"It makes sense Joan. Ever since that night when Eyal was shot on that rooftop Annie has been changing. For the better, no doubt about that, but caution and restraint color her actions now. She's smarter, more independent, and willing to push back more."
"She's in love with him. Whether she knows it or not, whether THEY know it or not. His decision to go to her now, on his own passport, basically screams that she is where his loyalty lies, not with Mossad." Joan declared, remembering what it was like when she and Arthur fell in love.
"Joan, this could end her career. It goes against every rule in this place, she will get torn apart if this ever gets out beyond the two of us." Auggie whispered, worry imbued in his words.
"Well then let's make sure it doesn't, at least not until she wants it to."
Annie,
The woman in your photo is confirmed to be Lena Smith. We were able to track her to a ship heading to St. Petersburg that departed almost 20 minutes ago. CONSIDER HER OUT OF REACH.
Fischer is still in Tallinn according to the tracker you planted on him. I've attached the install executable for the program the tracker uses. Install it and consider this permission to follow him, AS LONG AS HE STAYS OUT OF RUSSIA.
Keep yourselves safe,
Auggie
Annie read Auggie's email multiple times before turning the laptop to face Eyal. She saw his eyes track through the short email before they did a quick double take at the end.
"You see it too, right?" Annie asked.
"Yes, Neshama. I see it too." Eyal agreed.
"They know that I'm not here alone, but do they know it's you?" Annie queried, mulling it over in her head.
"Oh, they know it's me Neshama. Just based on what you've told me about Auggie, there is no way he would not have put the pieces all together once he suspected you weren't alone." Eyal stated with a short laugh. "I came here on my own passport, on a flight that arrived barely an hour before yours. I didn't hide it at all. Once he started looking it would be lit up so much even he would see it."
"This is essentially tacit approval then. He would have recalled me to DC immediately if he thought I was putting the operation in jeopardy."
"Then let's run with it. Take Fischer out, find Lena, complete the op. Then we deal with whatever fallout may come."
Annie gazed at him for a few moments before agreeing, "Alright, Bayit. Let's figure out our next move."
Eyal pulled Annie's laptop in front of him and downloaded the tracking program install executable before starting the install. Annie reached for the file on Fischer, planning to read through the documents again hoping to find something they'd missed the almost dozen prior times they'd looked through it. They'd found that there was no discernible pattern to any of his movements, not that they'd expected one. Having to rely on the tracker made them both anxious, knowing they'd have to be ready to move at a moment's notice. Luckily their habits, groomed into them during training, kept their bags essentially packed and ready to go with less than 10 minutes notice.
Their wait turned into days of hanging around the hotel room until two nights later the alert on the tracking program sounded. Annie sat up from where she had been laying reading a book in Eyal's arms on the sofa and pushed the screen of the laptop all the way up so they could see it. The tracker showed that Simon was in the Tallinn Airport.
"He's on the move, but to where?" Annie muttered under her breath as she ran a hand through her hair.
"There is no real way to know unless we reach out to Langley and cross our fingers that he is traveling on his own passport." Eyal answered.
"It's just about 10 in DC. Auggie should be at his desk by now." Annie said as she picked up her CIA phone.
Eyal watched as Annie selected Auggie from her recent calls list, reading a slight tension in her shoulders. He could hear the phone ringing in the silence that enveloped the room and was surprised to see Annie biting her thumb nail. It was something he's never seen her do before, but told him something he already knew, that Auggie was an important person in her life and she cared about his opinion of her. He knew that this was the first time they would talk to each other since Auggie had realized Eyal was with Annie.
"Annie Walker, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Hey Auggie, Fischer's tracker just alerted us, he's at the airport. Any chance you can see what flight he's on?"
"Not a small ask there Annie." Auggie declared.
"I know Auggie. But I also know that you can do it if you are so inclined, in fact I'm pretty sure you did something similar recently." Annie sassed through the phone.
"Ah, cat's outta the bag on that now is it?" Auggie bantered back at Annie.
"Will you run Fischer's passport through the manifests to see what flight he's leaving on? I'm decently certain that he's flying on his own passport and not a fake one." Annie persevered despite the needling from Auggie.
"Smart to avoid the question, but we will talk about it later, Walker. Give me an hour and I'll get back to you. There aren't too many flights leaving Tallinn the rest of the day, so it shouldn't take long."
"Thank you, Augs." Annie replied back.
The line went dead after that and she stared at the phone for a few seconds before she caught Eyal leaning forward on the sofa out of the corner of her eye. She put the phone on the table before turning to look at him.
"What's the likelihood we lose him in Russia?" Annie asked Eyal quietly, breaking the silence between them.
"Honestly? Probably not likely. He probably knows that is where Lena would go. He's probably heading elsewhere to keep eyes off her." Eyal reassured Annie.
Annie's head fell to her hands, "That's true, I just can't help worrying that I should have done something more here."
"Neshama, you and I both know that doing any more than we did here was more dangerous than it was worth. Do not discount that we were able to confirm the identity of the mole. Even if we never actually find her, she can no longer use the CIA, she is effectively cut off."
"You're right, and I know that in my brain, but I'm struggling with this. The whole reason I agreed to the mission was to find Jai's killer and see justice done. I didn't start this with the intention of tracking down a mole. As it stands, if we leave this here, if we don't bring in Lena and take down Fischer, it will feel like I've failed."
"This isn't the end of the road yet, Annie. Have faith in Auggie. The river wouldn't have brought you here for no reason. Trust the current, we aren't done yet." Eyal asserted as he reached out to tilt her face so he could look into her eyes. "We will get to the end together, Neshama."
"Alright, Bayit." Annie replied, reaching out to lace their fingers together before leaning her head on his shoulder.
Comfortable silence settled over the two and a light rain started falling outside the open balcony doors. The past two days had truly allowed the lovers to live their lives together in a way that they hadn't before. Despite not being at either of their actual homes, it was time that they got to spend together that wasn't completely overtaken by a mission. Yes, they were waiting for Fischer to make a move, but there wasn't anything they could actively do while they waited. Their time was spent in quiet conversation, discussing anything and everything that came to mind, reading cuddled together on the sofa in the hotel room, or tangled together between the sheets on the king sized bed.
Auggie chuckled lightly to himself as he pulled up the program he had used several days ago to determine that Eyal was the one with Annie. He was not especially convinced that Fischer would actually be traveling on his own passport despite Annie's assertion that he would be. He respected Annie enough to execute on her request even though he didn't agree with her logic. He believed Fischer to be too paranoid to travel on his own passport, any agent who had been born into espionage like Fischer would be.
That belief led to him getting the surprise of the day when Fischer's name actually appeared on a flight manifest. Auggie had only been paying minimal attention to the program while it ran, names being listed out through his headphones, so when he heard Fischer's name he almost fell out of his chair. After righting himself, he scrolled back up the list that had continued being recited, to double click into Fischer's details.
After hearing the final destination of Fischer's flight he sent Annie a text.
About 45 minutes after talking to Auggie, Annie's phone lit up and alerted them to a new text message.
'Fischer is en route to London'
"Now that we can work with, Neshama." Eyal stated, pleased with the information Auggie had sent them.
"London, well, I can't say I've ever really spent much time there despite my travels, but I agree, we can definitely work with that. I'll book our tickets on the first flight we can get tomorrow." Annie responded, relieved that Fischer had not run to Russia.
"I should book my own flight, Annie."
"Absolutely not, I'm claiming you as a freelance operative for the rest of this mission."
Ten minutes later Annie had them booked on a 650am flight to London via Frankfurt in business class. They both then made quick work of packing any unnecessary items in their bags before ordering room service for dinner and turning in for the night.
The following morning saw the two checking out of their hotel and sharing a taxi to Tallinn Airport to catch their flight to Frankfurt. They both enjoyed the change of getting to travel together for the first time, rather than saying goodbyes in airports. After getting through check-in and security Eyal wrapped his arm around Annie's shoulder as they walked to their gate. The calmness Annie felt was a nice change of pace to the pre-mission jitters that she typically dealt with. Eyal was actually enjoying working with a partner, something he typically avoided at all cost while working for Mossad, though most agents they tried to pair him with were not also his lover.
Both legs of their trip were easier than their individual trips into Tallinn, very little turbulence and the comfort of business class made the flights almost a pleasure. Rather than taking the tube from the airport into London they opted for the relative luxury of a black cab ride. About an hour later they were pulling up to a four story apartment building on the edge of SOHO that bordered Chinatown. Eyal led her up to the second floor and into a small apartment decorated in white and black, a stark departure from the warmer palette of his DC apartment, but somehow still fitting his personality.
"Welcome to my London flat, Neshama." Eyal said after taking both their bags to the bedroom.
"It's great, Bayit. I love the location, it's so close to everything we could want to do, with the added bonus of Fischer being just minutes away in Mayfair." Annie replied as she walked around the small flat.
Eyal made his way over to one of the two photos hanging above the tv and pulled it away from the wall revealing a wall safe. He entered a 9 digit passcode and the safe clicked open allowing Eyal to shuffle the items inside around to find what he was looking for.
Annie poked her head out from the bedroom to ask, "What are you looking for Eyal?"
"Hold on a minute and I'll show you, Neshama." Eyal replied without stopping his search. "Ahha, there it is."
Eyal pulled out a small bag, then closed the safe and rehung the photo hiding it from view again. He waved Annie over to the small table before he sat down and handed her the bag. Annie took it gently and stared at Eyal in confusion.
"Open it." Eyal directed Annie.
Annie pulled open the small drawstring bag and tipped it out onto the palm of her left hand. She gasped a little when a gold ring was revealed.
"Eyal? What is this?"
"Well, my cover in London is as a jeweler, so I keep several pieces available here at all times. Since we are hoping to run into Fischer here, and since he knows you split your time between your family in DC and your fiancé here in London, I thought that this would make your cover more solid." Eyal voiced softly. "I know it's just pretend, for now, but I thought this piece was perfect for your pretend engagement ring."
