"Incoming call, McQuaid."
Auggie had a sinking feeling as soon as he heard the voice issuing from his phone.
"McQuaid, what can I do for you?" he answered.
"Its Annie," said the deep voice on the other end.
Auggie's fist tightened as he listened to how Annie had been shot and then abandoned in the heart of Russia.
"I shouldn't have left her. God, I wanted to go back, it tore me apart to leave her behind. But she was right, we'd both be stuck there now and we'd have no hope at getting help."
"Your right. You shouldn't have left her. She wouldn't have left you. She would have helped you and then thought of some way of getting you both out of there, without needing extra help," Auggie spat into the phone, barely able to control his anger.
There was a silence on the end of the phone and then a long sigh, "Perhaps your right. Well, I know how important she is to you, I just thought I should let you know," said McQuaid dejectedly.
"Luckily for you, I haven't left DC yet. I'll head down to Langley, see if there is anything I can do…and McQuaid, if anything happens to her, I am holding you responsible," he said and hung up, just as he heard his apartment door slide open.
"Ok, I got the last of the stuff we need. Just need to put it in the case and we are set…what's wrong?" he heard Tash say.
"Tash, I can't leave tomorrow," he told her, bracing himself for her reaction.
"What! What now, you've left Auggie. I thought this had stopped, I thought your commitment was to me now!"
"I know, I know…it's Annie. She's in trouble, life or death kind of trouble."
"Isn't it always?" Tash complained.
"This more than other times…look, she risked her life to save us, to save you. I owe it to her, so do you," Auggie argued.
"No, Auggie, she wanted to save you. Saving me would have just been a bonus."
"Tash! Listen, just two days. Give me two days and then we'll be outta here, I promise," he negotiated.
"I can't stop you," she said, slamming the bags down onto the worktop, "Go. But Auggie, you can't just drop everything every time she is in danger. One of these times you are going to have to choose, me or her."
Auggie left without saying another word. He was still seething as he flagged down a cab. He loved Tash and he could give up his commitment to Langley to be with her but why couldn't she understand that he had a deeper commitment to his friends, Annie especially, that he could never just walk away from. Had she never had people she would do anything for?
He pulled out his cell when he got seated in the cab.
"Call Joan Campbell," he said. She picked up on the first ring.
"Auggie," she said grimly.
"Joan, I just heard from McQuaid. I'm coming over," he said.
"Auggie, I know you want to help but you're no longer CIA. Listen, I'll keep you updated…"
"Hell, Joan, this is Annie we are talking about and she is stuck in Russia, again! If anyone can help find and save her, you know it's me."
Joan paused, "Ok, I can tell I am not going to win this one. Your help will be welcome."
Auggie manoeuvred through Langley's corridors with ease. Over the years it had become a second home to him. He hadn't thought he'd be back when he had resigned just a few weeks before and now that he was, he felt an odd sort of relief. Was he really ready to leave this life behind?
"Auggie!" he heard Joan's voice.
Taking her elbow, she guided him the rest of the way to the DPD.
"Where are we at?" he asked her.
"McQuaid is still on the ground. We are assembling a strike team to join him. Blake's got to know that we'll be sending someone, we just have to do it quick before he can hurt Annie in any way."
"McQuaid said Blake is stationed at some sort of underground facility? Sounds like it will be hard to infiltrate."
"Yeah. Blake sent us intel suggesting that they moved about in a small group of no more than five men, setting up temporary camps and never staying more than a week in one place. Our satellite imaging of the area supported that. Looks like he's been manipulating us for a long time. We think we have found the entrance to the facility that McQuaid is talking about on satellite imaging. McQuaid said it was large, but its main defense was its camouflage, he didn't see any electronic defenses."
"Well, that's something at least," Auggie answered, the situation feeling a little less desperate.
Auggie was about to leave Joan and get to work himself when he heard a woman's voice, "Joan, I think you should see this. We have a live video feed coming through from Russia."
Joan led Auggie into the main office area, where the buzz of voices quickly died down to a stunned silence.
"Joan, what's going on?"
"Oh, Annie," she sighed.
"Joan?" Augie pressed.
"They have her tied to a chair. She doesn't look good, they've been at work on her…at least they've bound her thigh."
"Dammit!" Auggie exclaimed.
"Blake's just appeared on screen…Asshole looks proud of himself," she said, describing the video feed to Auggie, "Can we make sure the volume is turned up please," she shouted to the techs in the room.
"Hello Langley," said a cold voice, "By now I am sure you're aware of the situation your girl Annie is in. Shame, I was hoping it would be a surprise. Never mind. So, here's the deal. For a long time all I could think of is how much I hate you all at Langley. My life and everything important to me is insignificant to you. I and every other field operative have only been as important as the intel we could provide. It didn't matter to you who I lost and I've lost everything. All I've been able to think about is making you lose as much, and more, than I have and I am not the only operative to think this way. The ironic thing is, you've trained us so well, that you'll never find us all in time! Piece by piece, we are going to bring the CIA down around your ears and you'll be powerless to stop it. I'll start with precious Annie here…I offered her a place among us but ever the patriot she refused. Now she'll be the first to die and you can all have front row seats…however, I am a gambling man. So, I'll give you an hour to grab the popcorn and then it's bye-bye Miss Walker!"