AN: Part 3 is up! This chapter is a little shorter, but I think the next one is going to make up for it. Thank you guys for reading. Please keep reviewing!

Tough Lady (Part 3) –

Zarya cried for minutes before her mother returned her call.

"Mom!" She exclaimed on the phone.

"Oh my God, Zarya! Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Annie asked desperately.

"No, mom, I'm fine. They didn't see me. But they took dad! They punched him! They… Ugh! I hate them!" She screamed and kicked the door.

"Sweetie, where are you? I'm going to pick you up."

"I'm locked in the bathroom. Waiting for help." She sobbed and Annie's heart broke.

"I'll be there immediately. I love you, honey. Please stay strong."

"I love you too, mom. Just come back."

…

Auggie had no idea what they planned to do with him, but he was way more worried about his daughter's safety. Did she make it? Was she safe?

What hurt the most was the fact that he couldn't do anything to stop those guys. If it were a few years ago… Auggie had aged pretty well, but he wasn't in his thirties anymore, and there were things that had become impossible even for him. Fighting two guys that sounded twice his size, being older than them and blind, was definitely going to be a challenge. That he was likely to fail epically.

When the men stopped the car, they didn't say anything, just pushed Auggie out of it and into some place that smelled like a barn. Auggie confirmed his suspicions when he was thrown into a pile of hay, and heard some cows in the back. He was glad there was some hay to cushion his fall, because he probably had a broken rib or two.

"Tie him to that column." One of the guys ordered.

"You seem to know my name, but I don't know yours." Auggie stated as he was tied uncomfortably to a wood column.

"Yeah. Let's keep it that way." The man approached him and started to take things out of Auggie's pocket. "Is this the key to your house? To your real house?"

"I don't know; I've never seen it." His eyes were filled with rage, but he grinned. He enjoyed teasing that man.

…

Annie arrived at the safe house and went straight to the bathroom.

"Zarya? Honey?" She announced herself before knocking on the door, so that her daughter wouldn't be startled.

"Mom!" Zarya screamed as she opened the door. She took her mother in her arms and held her for as long as she could.

"Honey, you won't be safe here. You'll have to come with me to Langley." Annie held her again, trying to comfort her; but she knew she couldn't. Zarya had been through the hardest time of her life, and all alone.

"Is daddy gonna be ok?" Zarya cried in her mother's arms.

"I don't know, honey. But he can take care of himself. Come on, let's leave. I need to take care of you now."

Annie pulled Zarya from the floor and walked in front of her, making their way with her gun ready. Zarya had never seen her mother holding a gun before, and it scared her to see that.

On their way out, Annie realized there was no way they could have been followed all the way from home. She would have noticed it. The criminals either knew where her safe house was, or they had tracked them down somehow.

"Honey, don't go into the car just yet. I'm gonna check something." Annie lay on the ground to take a look under her car. Bull's-eye. She found the tracker. They knew the safe house would be somewhere Annie had parked her car. "Shit!"

"What?" Zarya asked, starting to freak out again.

"They were tracking my car. They know I've been to Langley." Annie furiously ripped it off and threw it away. She ran another quick sweep before she got into her car again.

Zarya didn't ask any questions, nor stated anything all the way to Langley. It all felt like falling apart and she was trying to put the pieces back together. She didn't know what she was doing, where she was going; what had just happened was just a blur. She felt angry at her mother for a minute, because she knew if Annie wasn't a CIA agent, it would have never happened. And Annie could have been more careful. But then she looked at her mother's face and saw just how guilty and worried she felt, and her heart filled with compassion.

Annie was trying to stay calm, but emotion started to take over when she heard Zarya's desperate voice on the phone. Now, seeing her daughter that scared because of something she could have avoided, she couldn't hold all her feelings inside anymore. She let a single tear run down her face, and tried to dry it before Zarya saw it, but Zarya was a good observer.

"I am so sorry, honey." She held her daughter's hand.

"I know." Zarya squeezed hers.

"Thank you for being such a tough lady."

"I had the best of the examples at home." Zarya smiled.

…

"You're funny, Mr. Anderson." Auggie listened as the man dragged a chair and sat by his side. "Now, I need to contact your wife. To tell her you are here, and that you need to be rescued." He took Auggie's phone. He had a hard time trying to use a phone with voiceover on, but he managed to find the contacts. He dialed the number that had been dialed most times, under the name of Helvetica. Auggie liked to stick to the old times.

…

Annie's phone rang as she was about to get into Langley. It was Mingus. She looked at Zarya, parked her car, took a deep breath and picked it up.

"Hello?" Her heart racing.

"Mrs. Anderson! Nice to finally talk to you. This is someone you seem to know a lot about. Too much, I'd say."

"Where's my husband? I want to talk to him." Annie asked imposingly.

"Listen, you have 30 seconds. Do not exchange any messages. Or he'll die." He handed Auggie the phone, but set it on speaker, so he'd control the conversation.

"Annie?" Auggie said, relieved for having the chance to hear her voice.

"Augs, you ok?"

"Broken rib, but I'm fine. You?"

"We're good. Broken rib? You sure you're ok?"

"I am. Now do what you have to do, Annie. I love you."

"I love you too, Auggie. I'll get you out of there, don't worry."

"I know." He paused to make sure she would hear some of the cows in the background. "I'm waiting."

The man turned off the speaker and talked to Annie again.

"So, Mrs. Anderson, I'm willing to negotiate with you."

"You will assist my husband with the medical care he needs." She spoke in a tone of threat.

"Of course. Now listen. I can safely deliver him home to you under two conditions."

"Two?"

"How much does his life cost?"

"Spit it. What conditions?"

"Number one: you come here and replace him. I'm sure you and I have better things to discuss than me and him. Number two: you tell every person you've got investigating my business to drop it."

Annie wanted to say 'no', but she was worried about Auggie's safety.

"How much time do I have?"

"I'm feeling generous today. And you husband sounds like good company. So, let's say… Six hours."

Annie cheered inside. It wasn't much time, but way more than she had expected.

"I'll be there in six hours." She turned off the phone.

She took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and turned the engines on.

"Dad has a broken rib?" Zarya asked, concerned, before her mother started driving again.

"He is gonna be fine, Zarya. He's been through worse situations."

"Mom, he's been to Iraq. And he got blind there. He has definitely been through worse situations. Doesn't mean he has to go through bad situations now."

"I know, Z. I know. Just know that we're both working hard to get him out of there as soon as possible. And we'll have backup at Langley. It will all end well." Annie drove off.

She was completely insecure inside and she didn't believe a single word she had said. She felt powerless, and she felt she had no control over Auggie's life. It frightened her, but she had to keep her head high. Especially for Zarya. She was desperate to get to Langley, to ask for her friends' help, because she was sure she couldn't do it on her own. Even Annie Walker's instincts didn't feel strong enough for those circumstances.