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Prompt #45: Hero - He sometimes had to remind her of the good she did.

Words: 519

She woke up within hours of her surgery. Her first words were, predictably, "What...happened?"

Once he heard her voice, Auggie felt hot tears drip from his eyes as he gently kissed her hand over and over. He brokenly told her how the intel was discovered to be faulty, how they couldn't warn them in time, how the safe house had exploded and caught all three agents in the blast. How she and Dexter had made it to the operating room, while the other female agent - Amanda Marcus, Auggie had found out - had been DOA.

"I had a feeling something was wrong, but I thought I was being paranoid. Amanda swore she'd vetted the place thoroughly." Annie's voice sounded tired and guilty and all sorts of broken, her words harsh as sandpaper. "I should've checked it myself, but we were behind schedule..."

He could feel her guilt building in the tightening grip on his hand. "Annie, it wasn't your fault," he insisted.

"Isn't it?" she snapped bitterly. "Because I didn't listen to my gut, Amanda died, Dexter was badly injured, and the operation was a complete failure."

"No it wasn't!" Auggie objected. Leaning closer, he stared where he thought Annie's eyes were. "Hey, it wasn't a failure." He reached up to cradle her face and swiped the hot tears he found there away with his thumb. "You came back home to me. I'm certainly calling that a success."

"But - "

"No buts." He pressed a kiss to her protesting lips. "Nobody is blaming you for what happened. Joan knows you did the best you could to salvage the situation. If anything, you're a hero."

Annie scoffed derisively. "Hero."

"You are a hero." Auggie held her hand next to his cheek and squeezed again. "Now you listen to me. The op was falling apart around your ears, and yet you managed to save almost twelve hundred people and haul an injured man out of a burning building."

"But Amanda - "

Auggie shook his head. "Amanda knew the risk. We all do. It's the risk we take every time we go out into the field. But you made it home alive. Your quick thinking saved Dexter's life, and I know Clara will be forever grateful to you for that."

"He'll probably never go out in the field again."

"It's better than never coming home again. That's a win, and you should take it.

He heard Annie sniffle once or twice as her face tilted to nuzzle his palm. "What would I ever do without you?" she whispered.

"Luckily you'll never know." Not if I have any say in the matter, he swore. "I'll be the light for you in dark places when all other lights go out."

"...Auggie?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just quote Return of the King to me?"

His smirk grew cocky. "It seemed appropriate."

"You are such a geek," she stated, but Auggie was heartened to hear a giggle in her voice. "So you're my Eärendil?"

"Okay, now that's hot."

Recently watched LotR: Return of the King again, and that line just stuck with me.

Enjoy this chap, and please review!

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