Annie knew she would be working with Eyal again, but she never thought it would be so soon. It had only been two months before the Agency brought him on as a consultant to help her out on a mission in the Middle East. Part of her assignment was to evaluate Eyal's loyalties, as they considered giving him a more permanent role.
"Take your shoes off Neshama. We are going to be here for a while." Eyal stated as they walked into the safe-house. Annie slipped out of her heels and carefully placed them under a ledge in the corner by the door.
"I see that you have stayed out of trouble for the past two months."
"Why would you say that?" Annie replied.
"I haven't had to come rescue you."
"There are other rescuers out there, you know." Annie said as she pushed a crooked chair under the table.
"I do. And you are sleeping with him now, aren't you?"
Annie looked at Eyal, startled. "I... Why do you say that?"
"I may not work for Mossad, but I'm still a fully trained spy. You seem happy. I'm happy for you."
Annie smiled. "Thank you."
"He's been nutty about you for a while, you know."
"Not long enough," Annie replied. "He almost missed his chance." She looked at Eyal pointedly in a way that made him mourn for the lost opportunity.
"It's safer for you with him." Eyal said, with a touch of sadness.
"We aren't together because it's safe." Annie explained.
"I never said it was safe. Just that it is safer."
Annie shrugged. "How about you?"
"Oh, I'm getting by well enough."
"Have you really cut ties with Mossad?"
"Does the CIA keep people around half-way? This is an all-or-nothing industry."
"Touché."
"Don't you need to check in?"
Annie pulled out her phone and stepped away from Eyal. "Yes, but then I'm hiding my phone from you so I can be sure it survives this mission."
She punched the number quickly and heard Auggie's voice after two rings.
"Hello dear."
"Hey babe. I'm here safe and sound."
"Great. And your liaison?"
"Sends you his love."
"Glad you found him. Okay, you should have a clear view across the street into a room with the target. You know what to do. Be safe."
"Any more information on the other guys we are dealing with here?"
"They are up to something big and dirty, and they have meetings all over town tonight. You're going to have to figure everything else out from there."
"Got it. I'll be in touch." She ended the call and walked back in the room with Eyal.
"Lots of activity over there." Eyal said as he watched the target.
"They are supposed to be leaving soon." Annie stated.
"All of them?" He let Annie look. The room they were watching held no less than seven people.
"I have no idea. Think they would even notice if we joined the fun?"
"It would be impossible not to notice you, Neshama."
Annie gave him a look that showed she was flattered, but not interested. "I guess we just wait, then."
An hour later it finally looked like all of the people in the room were leaving, so Annie and Eyal prepared to go in. Annie gave Auggie a quick call to let him know, and he instructed her to call him as soon as they were in the room.
Pretending to be a happy couple, Annie and Eyal ran into few people as they made their way up into the apartment building. Eyal quickly opened the lock for the room they were to search and bug. Carefully, the duo entered, prepared for whatever may come.
"We're in." Annie said quietly into the headset as soon as they entered the apartment.
"Good." Auggie replied. "What electronics do you see?"
Annie listed the various computers and stereo systems around the room.
"Let's start with anything that has a USB port. Just stick that device I gave you inside, and I'll be plugged into your international party over there."
Annie went to a computer and stuck the device in. Within seconds, data started appearing on Auggie's screen, and he was able to determine the value of the intel.
The intel was troubling.
"Annie, what did you plug this into?"
"A very large computer." She replied.
"What I'm reading here looks like a very small bomb."
"What do you mean?" Annie asked, looking at the machine more closely.
"I'm not sure what I mean, but I think you need to leave the USB there, and get out. Now."
"But we just got here." Annie responded, frustrated.
"Humor me, and get out."
"Auggie, a bomb activated by a USB-"
"NOW, Annie, it looks like there is some sort of self-destruct mode. You have to get out." The panic in his voice was one she rarely heard.
Annie walked to the other room and got Eyal. "We gotta go."
"Somebody coming?" Eyal asked.
"Something like that." Annie replied, not wanting to explain.
"ANNIE HURRY." Auggie came through the earbud.
"We're hurrying," she responded.
"I'd feel best if you got out of the-" Auggie could hear the blast through his headset, and the line went dead. "ANNIE!"
Silence. All Auggie could hear in the DPD was silence. He reached for his phone. "I need backup to respond now. There has been an explosion, two operatives are assumed to be hurt. What's your ETA? FIVE MINUTES IS TOO LONG."
Auggie slammed the phone down, and Barber came running into the office. "What's wrong?"
"I need you to see if you can get a visual on Annie's surveillance area."
Barber stood a moment, noticing how pale Auggie looked and almost expecting more explanation.
"NOW." Auggie shouted.
Barber jumped to respond. "Anything in particular I'm looking for?"
"It was a trap. There was an explosion." Auggie was unable to sit at his desk, so he was leaning over his keyboard, tracking the extraction team. When his fingers weren't on the Braille display, they were tapping impatiently on the desktop.
"The building looks fine from what I'm pulling up. It wasn't that large of an explosion."
"That's good news." Auggie said, and the slight way he relaxed showed that he meant it. "The delay on that feed is only thirty seconds or so, right?"
"Yeah. There are some emergency responders on site."
"Patch us in on the police scanner."
"Will do, boss."
Information was coming at Auggie from all directions, and he was following every bit of it as he paced three steps in each direction in front of his computer. While Barber was used to the unusual amounts of audio in the office, the mix that was blaring now gave him an immediate headache.
None of the information streaming their way was giving the answer that Auggie needed. He needed Annie's voice to let him know that she was okay.
So they waited.
And waited.
The positive side was that there was no news coming through the scanners of any injuries or death.
Barber watched his boss as he stopped in front of his computer and tapped his foot. Every muscle in Auggie's body was tense and jittery. "Any news on the visual?" Auggie asked.
"Nope." Barber replied.
...
Meanwhile, Annie and Eyal were hiding from rescue workers, trying to get far enough away to start thinking about an extraction. Annie had dropped her phone in the blast, shattering the screen. She could see that Auggie was trying to call, but was unable to answer.
Eyal wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her through an alley, only to see firefighters coming from the other direction. He pulled her close to him as they ducked into an entryway, waiting for the rescuers to move through. The moment would have been incredibly intimate in any other circumstance, and Eyal held on slightly longer than necessary, looking at Annie rather than the path ahead.
"Let's go." Annie said with a tone that showed she knew where Eyal's mind was wandering, but wasn't going to humor him with being upset. She led the rest of the way out and away from the emergency vehicles.
Finally, far later than when she was comfortable with, she and Eyal were far enough away that they could check in. "Hand me your phone." Annie told Eyal.
"Let me make sure you are okay first." Eyal stated as he started to pull back her hair.
Annie pulled away. "I'm fine, and I'm serious. I need to call Auggie."
"Certainly puts a damper on your fieldwork when you have to check in with your boyfriend."
Annie glared at him. "You know damn well that I am checking in with my handler, as I always have."
"Because you've always had an emotional connection with him." Eyal responded as he pulled out a phone and pressed a few buttons. "Just press send. I have him in my contacts."
Annie looked at the phone, and sure enough the number for Auggie's unsecured line was on the screen. She smiled and hit send.
"Lithography." The word came out ridiculously fast and Annie could hear the anxiety. She could also hear a lot of background noise that sounded like police scanners. Auggie wasn't usually so sloppy.
"Customer service, please." She said the words as sweetly as she could. Seeing the response on Eyal's face made her blush.
The background noise on Auggie's end of the line suddenly disappeared, and she heard a sigh. "You okay?"
"Thanks to you. We're a few blocks away now. I assume the mission is scrapped?"
"Yes." Auggie replied without hesitation.
"There's no reason to think they know who we are." Eyal provided to Annie, loud enough that Auggie could hear him through the phone.
"Tell Eyal there's no reason to think that they don't. We don't know what type of surveillance was in that room and where it was being transmitted. They were prepared for you guys to be there."
"Got it." Annie replied.
"So Eyal saves the day again." Auggie stated, sounding more insecure than he would like.
"We aren't going there." Annie responded in a tone that didn't reveal to Eyal that she wasn't talking about a physical place.
Auggie sighed. "Where you are going is a car lot on the northeast side. I'll text the info to this number and see you within 24 hours. Well, more accurately, I'll touch you, but-"
"Sounds good." Annie interrupted, knowing that she was getting close to the point where Eyal steals the phone and throws it away. She hung up and handed the phone back.
"Information on where a car is waiting will be coming through shortly." Annie explained.
"Didn't sound like anything has changed." Eyal commented.
"It hasn't." Annie responded. "Until I get home and greet him with a big, passionate, kiss." She added with a wink.
Eyal nodded, but Annie could see the slight disappointment in his eyes. "Then let me help you get home to him."