Author's Note: And now we begin my version of the back half of season 4 and the continuation of my one shot Love Me Now. Y'all can probably tell by the titles/summaries of my other published fics that they are inspired by songs. This one is inspired by "Dusk til Dawn" by Zayn ft. Sia. The back half of season 4 is my least favorite storyline. Annie seems so out of control and I think that is because she doesn't have anyone she trusts to bounce her ideas off of. Adding Eyal to the story provides her the safe zone to work through all her plans and ideas before she executes them. I hope this alternate storyline gives us the more stable, less foolhardy Annie we all enjoy. I'm not sure yet how long this story will be, but I'm enjoying the outlining process to figure that out. As always, I do not own Covert Affairs or any of the characters. Reviews and constructive criticism always welcome!
Dusk til Dawn
Chapter 1 - Just tryna be in this
Throbbing, pulsing pain from deep in her skull greeted Annie when she woke and mixed with the vertigo and nausea from the prior evening. This had not been part of her plan when she convinced Calder Michels to help her remove herself from the board. She couldn't be too terribly frustrated at the situation though, as this deviation had resulted in Eyal's continued presence in her life. The Israeli operative offered such a grounding presence to her admittedly chaotic thought process since it forced her to really think about the decisions she would have to make. She could be incredibly reckless with her own life, but she would never needlessly risk the life of the most important person to her.
Annie forced herself to focus on her breathing, hoping it would lessen the pain and nausea enough so she could at least sit up and open her eyes without wanting to throw up. It took several minutes to achieve that, but once she did, she sat up and opened her eyes to take in the small apartment Eyal had rented in Mainz. There wasn't much to it, but it certainly suited both their needs right now. It was safe and off the beaten path, and far enough away from Frankfurt to give them some time to deal with her reaction to the drugs they'd used the prior day and to plan their next steps.
After a few moments she registered that she was alone in the apartment. There was no sound coming from anywhere in the apartment and the realization saw her heart rate and breathing increase before she remembered his words from last night. "I'll never leave you." Just as she'd regulated her heart rate and breathing again she heard a key in the lock of the front door to the apartment as Eyal let himself in.
Eyal had a bag that looked like it was from a local shop that he placed on the counter in the kitchen before he made his way to the bedroom.
"Good morning, Neshama. How are you feeling?" Eyal asked quietly as he sat on the edge of the bed next to her.
"Like I've been hit by two Mack trucks now, instead of just the one." Annie answered honestly. "My head is throbbing and the vertigo and nausea are miserable."
"I picked up some painkillers and anti nausea meds for you. Let me get those for you and then we can start planning if you're up for it." Eyal replied as he stood to return to the kitchen.
He opened the two pill bottles and poured out four ibuprofen and two emetrol then filled a glass with water before retracing his steps back to the bedroom. He handed the meds to Annie and then offered the glass, before watching her down them all in one go. Annie continued to sip the water for a few moments as she waited to see if her stomach would reject the meds or not. After determining that they would not send her racing for the toilet, she placed the glass on the nightstand and opened her eyes.
"Thank you, Eyal. For everything." Annie stated gratefully.
"Of course, Neshama. You never have to thank me." Eyal demurred.
"I do though. You have always come to my side when I needed you and I let my fears keep me from staying by yours when you asked it of me in Amsterdam. I need you to know how much I appreciate that you are still willing to help me despite my misstep there." Annie rebutted.
"Annie, I pushed you for something I never should have asked of you. You were still processing everything that happened with Simon and in Russia, as well as Mossad using us both as pawns. We're here now, and we have both been honest with each other, let's leave the past where it belongs." Eyal entreated.
"Alright. So now we plan?" Annie asked, with as much of a smile as she could muster.
"We plan." Eyal agreed. "But we are doing that from right here for today. You need to rest, and if the stars align we should be ready to execute on our plans by tomorrow or the following day at the very latest."
"Understood, I know that trying to do anything in my current state is foolish and would put both of us at risk. I won't do that again, not after everything we dealt with during the Ansari debacle."
"So what was your next step, Annie? You mentioned Sana Wilcox in Frankfurt."
"I was going to find her in Zurich. She had dinner with Henry Wilcox the night before he had that helicopter shot down in Copenhagen, I think she may be able to give us an idea of what he's doing."
"I called in a favor and was able to get Mossad's file on Sana Wilcox. When you are feeling up to it we can read through it and come up with a plan to meet with her."
"Eyal, you didn't have to do that. I know that you don't work for them anymore and those favors should be used only when you need them."
"It was worth it, Annie. You have to know I'd use them all to keep you safe. Especially now, when it's just the two of us out here with no backing or support from any agency." Eyal implored Annie to understand.
"I do understand, because I'd do the same for you with any of my favors owed." Annie conceded. "We need to do something to make me less recognizable."
"I know," Eyal concurred, "I also got some hair dye and colored contacts while at the shop. As much as I hate to hide the blonde hair and brown eyes I adore so much, they make you too easy to spot."
"Well, let's get that taken care of. I can sit just as well in the bathroom as I can here." Annie said as she slowly began to shift her body to the edge of the bed.
Eyal stood and offered his hand to help her up before allowing her to wrap her arms around one of his and leading her the few steps to the bathroom. They were in luck that the shower had a hand held sprayer and a bench seat that would make the dyeing process much easier for Annie. An hour later, Annie stood staring into the bathroom mirror at her new dark chocolate locks and green eyes, trying to find herself in the reflection.
Eyal stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle before reassuring her, "You're still you, Neshama. The color of your hair and eyes doesn't change that in any meaningful way."
"I know, it's just quite odd to see these colors on my features." Annie acceded, before turning away from the mirror to face Eyal. "We should work on my IDs so they are in order before we head to Zurich."
"I'll take care of those, I just need a photo of you with your new look. You should read through the file on Sana while I finish that up." Eyal directed.
Annie made her way over to her discarded clothes where they were draped the prior night and pulled on her jacket for the photo Eyal needed. He snapped a couple different ones before gathering up his own jacket and heading for the door. "I'll go get these printed and will be back shortly. The file on Sana Wilcox is in my bag on the table."
Annie discarded her jacket once more before gathering the file and returning to the bed. The throbbing in her head was now just a tolerable pounding and her nausea had abated which made it easier to read through and retain the information in the file. There wasn't much in there that she hadn't already known, but the most helpful piece of information was the confirmation of her engagement to David Dupres.
Originally, Annie had planned to manipulate her way into Sana's orbit, but now she wondered if a more direct approach might be a better option. She wanted to take Henry down, but she wanted to minimize the collateral damage as much as possible. There was a universal theory in Langley that asserted that to take down another operative you must think like and potentially become that operative. Manipulation and underhandedness were trademarks of Henry's modus operandi at the CIA, and Annie would do everything she could to avoid those tactics.
The turning of pages was the only sound in the apartment as Eyal reentered about an hour later. He carried two bags with him this time. One announced a printing shop on it and the other looked to be a women's clothing store. He dropped the printing shop bag on the small dining room table next to his bag and brought the other with him as he walked towards the bedroom. Annie looked up from the papers spread across the bed as Eyal entered the room, and when she saw the bag, turned a questioning glance his way.
"You needed new clothes, Neshama. The one change I put in your bag in Frankfurt won't suffice for long, there are two additional changes in here." Eyal revealed.
"Thank you." Annie uttered, appreciative of Eyal's care of her. "I think I have an idea for how to approach Sana."
"Let me finish up your identification and then we can talk it through." Eyal suggested.
Annie nodded and returned to the pages strewn across the bed to try to put them in some kind of order while Eyal finished her documents. About thirty minutes later Eyal returned to find that Annie had replaced all the files into the folder and had found a pad of paper and pen to jot notes down on.
"So what's the plan?" Eyal asked, initiating the discussion.
"Sana Wilcox works with her fiancé David Dupres at Couronne Investments. I originally thought I would find a way to worm myself into a job there, but I don't want to go the route any longer. I think I want to approach her as a friend of Jai's from work who is trying to figure out what really happened to him. I think we should plan to watch her for a few days and see if there is a pattern to her movements before we approach."
"What changed your mind?" Eyal inquired, wanting to understand the change of heart.
"Two things really, the first is that I don't want to manipulate people, it's Henry Wilcox's MO and I fear becoming like him to try to beat him, and the second is that it allows you to be present in a way you wouldn't be able to if I ran with that plan."
"You could never become Henry Wilcox, Neshama, you don't have it in you." Eyal challenged.
"I don't want to risk it either way. I won't lose myself in this, to this, I want it to end but I won't risk becoming someone I can't stand to do so." Annie affirmed.
"Alright, so we are heading to Zurich tomorrow then? You feel up for the trip?" Eyal asked.
"Yeah, I won't say I'm in top shape yet, but I'm in good enough shape to make the trip to Zurich." Annie declared.
Rest filled the remaining hours of the day once the pair had determined their next steps. Eyal packed both their bags, limiting them to two each, one with clothing and other essentials, the other with all their identification, documents, and technology. He had also booked them tickets on the only direct train from Mainz to Zurich. Normally he would have looked for a more circuitous route to make them harder to follow, but he knew that ease was the priority for this trip. They would insure false trails for the remainder of the operation, this time Annie's recovery took precedence.
Despite their train not departing until midday, Annie found herself awake in the predawn hours unable to fall back to sleep. The throbbing in her head was now just a low grade headache and the vertigo and nausea had fully abated. Gently, she removed Eyal's arm from around her waist and quietly made her way to the bathroom. She showered, thrilled to rinse the remnants of the last few days from her body, and then dressed in one of the outfits Eyal had purchased for her. The dark wash skinny jeans fit perfectly, the soft material of the vintage fit purple t-shirt felt amazing on her skin, and the black shawl collar wrap jacket wrapped her in a warmth that she had been missing for longer than she could recall. Every article of clothing was chosen carefully with her comfort and movement kept in mind.
She exited the bathroom and headed for the kitchen where she pulled on her ankle high flat boots and jotted a note to Eyal to let him know she was headed for the roof. The chill of the pre-dawn hours flushed any remaining sleepiness from her as the fresh air filled her lungs. Perched on the low wall that surrounded the roof, she watched the sun rise in the east and reflected on the last forty-eight hours. Those hours had certainly not played out the way she'd imagined they would, but she couldn't find it in her to be disappointed in that outcome. Protecting the people she cared about had been first and foremost in her mind. Joan, Arthur, and Auggie. Despite their recent actions that would keep her from returning to the CIA after she completed her operation, her history with the three meant that she would do what she could to take Henry Wilcox out of the picture permanently. Their recent actions, however, meant that she was now unwilling to sacrifice herself for that objective.
Eyal's re-entry into her life was all she needed to remember that she still had people who needed her, who loved her. She knew that she would have a long road to travel, if allowed, to get Danielle back in her life, but with Eyal at her side, she knew it would be worth it to have her sister in her life. After they completed this mission, she would never forget to prioritize the two most important people to her ever again.
The sun was just above the eastern horizon when Eyal stepped out onto the roof searching for Annie.
"Everything alright, Neshama?" Eyal asked.
"Yes, Eyal. I just wanted to watch the sunrise this morning. I'm trying to get my head in the game for this."
"And, how did that go?" Eyal followed up as he took a seat next to her.
"Oh, it's totally in this." Annie declared with a smile. "I have you with me, my priorities are more in order than ever now, let's finish this."