Author's Note: see chapter 1 for disclaimer etc.
So this one is considerably longer. It is everything I have written though. So it might be a bit longer before I post the next chapter. I have a few midterms this week, but our spring/winter break is next week because of the Canada winter games. Maybe I'll get a chance to get more written then.
Thank you anyone who is reading this so far. Special thanks to Gladius Grim for a review.
All airport names and approximated flight durations etc are as accurate as I could get them. Enjoy.
Auggie hung up the phone and put it back on its charger. He walked over to his couch and flopped down. He was glad he knew his apartment well enough to flop down on the couch. He couldn't believe that he had just agreed to have Annie stay at his place for a week. He would basically be helping her disappear. Not like he hadn't already done enough by getting her a passport and ID. But having her stay at his place. What was he thinking? What was she thinking? Of course she wasn't thinking the man she loved had just died.
So why had he said yes? He liked Annie immensely, but he wasn't sure exactly what that meant. He wouldn't call it love. Friendship for sure, maybe more than that but not love. It couldn't be. He'd been burned before. He'd left Natasha to be snapped up by the FBI then he'd let her go again.
If being in love meant hurting people, he did not want to be in love. He didn't trust himself enough to fall in love. Suddenly he was nervous about seeing Annie again. What would he do? What was he supposed to say? What does someone say to a person who has just lost the person they love?
A thought suddenly occurred to him. He didn't have much for food. He would have to get some groceries and Annie probably wouldn't have any clothing he would have to get her some. She would have left her bag behind. Jai would bring it back and she probably wouldn't be able to get it back until she went back to work.
He figured he still had nearly 20 hours before she got there. It was early afternoon and with a time difference between Colombo and Washington D.C. of ten and a half hours it would be almost midnight in Sri-Lanka. Joan had given him the rest of the day off because he had been in the DPD overnight working.
He was tired as hell so he sat for five min before pulling himself off the couch and heading out to buy clothing and groceries. The groceries wouldn't be too bad, he knew his way around the local store pretty well and he wasn't afraid to ask random strangers to read labels for him if need be. Clothing would be a little bit harder. He would have to ask what the clothing looked like. He decided to get clothing first then groceries. It wouldn't make sense to have food sitting around until after clothing.
He had his car service drop him off at a strip mall and told them to be back in 45 min. It wasn't that he didn't trust Greg. It was probably just better that Greg not be involved. It wasn't unusual for Auggie to send Greg off while he shopped. Greg didn't seem to mind either; he just went for a coffee or something.
As it turned out there was a really nice saleslady at every store he went to, as long as he stated that he was looking for clothing for a his sister. He'd made the mistake of telling the saleslady in the first store he visited that he was shopping for his girlfriend. She'd lost her friendliness immediately and he could tell that any clothing she recommended would be ugly. It wasn't too hard to guess Annie's size; they got pretty close when they were training, especially that time he'd shown her the takedown.
He also made sure that all the bags they gave him were non descript, he didn't want Greg to see that he'd been shopping at a women's clothing store. He made the excuse to the salesladies that he didn't want his sister to see that he'd bought her clothing.
When Greg returned Auggie asked him if they could go to the grocery store. Greg seemed none the wiser. He must just think that Auggie had been shopping for himself. While Auggie was in the grocery store he asked Greg to wait close by so that he'd be able to head home as soon as he was done getting the groceries, he knew he'd be buying ice-cream and he wanted to get it into a freezer quickly.
When they returned to Auggie's place Greg helped him carry the bags into the apartment. Auggie handed him a five-dollar bill. Normally Auggie didn't tip his drivers, they were paid very well for the job they did for him. But Greg had been very helpful today.
Auggie put all of the food away. He'd bought twice as much as he normally did for a week. He left the clothing, still in its bags, in the corner of the living room. With that he went to bed. He was exhausted.
Annie was so glad that she'd paid for first class. She was sore enough from the tough day she'd had, but she still didn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she could see the glazed look in Ben's eyes. At least when she stayed awake she could distract actively try not to think about him.
The first leg of her flight was twelve or thirteen hours travel time with a quick stop at Male International Airport to Heathrow Airport in London. It was a long time to sit and think. She watched a few movies with headphones on. The other passengers around her were all sleeping. It had been around midnight when they left Bandaranayake Airport in Colombo.
When she got to the airport she was extremely glad that she didn't have any checked luggage. She grabbed a bite to eat in one of the airport restaurants that charged way too much for food. When she was done, it was just about time to get on a new plane headed for Washington D.C.
The second leg of her trip was six or seven hours, but somehow they seemed even longer than the previous trip. She was utterly exhausted. She could barely keep her eyes open. But she refused to sleep. She couldn't wait to get home. Well, Washington D.C. She couldn't go home yet. Joan could find her there and she couldn't deal with Danielle. So she'd be staying at Auggie's. What else could she do? She didn't have the money for a hotel, and she could really use a friend. Auggie was the best.
She wished that she'd fallen for someone more like Auggie the first time around. Instead she'd fallen head over heals for Ben, and he'd left her, twice now. She didn't know if she could ever trust a man with her heart again.
It was three or four hours into the flight when she nodded off not meaning to.
She was back in the helicopter holding Ben in her arms while he bled to death. She felt his grasp on her loosen and she knew he was fading. She felt a tear slip down her cheek. She was staring at Ben and watched as the light went out of his eyes. Then suddenly it wasn't Ben she was looking at, it was Auggie. He was dead, and she knew somehow that it was her fault.
She gasped as she woke suddenly. The flight attendant had her hand placed lightly on Annie's shoulder.
"You okay hun? Sounded like you were having a bad dream." She said innocently.
"Yeah. I'm fine now, thank you." Annie replied as politely as possible. It was bad enough that she couldn't stop seeing Ben dead in her arms, but now she had that horrible feeling that something bad would happen to Auggie and it would be her fault. She looked at her watch. She'd only slept for half an hour. At least for the rest of the flight she managed to stay awake.
When the plane finally landed, Annie was even gladder than she had been the first time that she didn't have to wait for checked luggage. There was a cab waiting for her just as expected. The cab took her to Auggie's apartment.
"How much do I owe you?" She asked reaching for what little money she did have left.
"No that won't be necessary; it's already been paid for." The cabby said. Annie thanked him and headed into the building.
She didn't know what came over her but she broke out into tears. When she got to Auggie's door she knocked lightly. Trying desperately to stop crying. She was completely unsuccessful.
His door slid open. He didn't say anything just held his hand out to her. She took it and he pulled her into a hug. After a moment, he pulled her further into the apartment to close the door.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm doing this. I didn't mean to cry." She sobbed lightly into his chest.
"You've been through a lot." He said. "Come sit down you must be exhausted." He sat her down on the couch. "I assume you haven't slept at all?" She nodded silently.
"Just half an hour between London and here." She admitted. "I didn't want to sleep. I couldn't." She was still sobbing a little and it came out sounding more pathetic than she had hoped.
"I'll be right back" Auggie said heading for the bedroom. He cursed himself for not thinking to buy Annie PJs. He quickly pulled a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt out of his own drawer. He brought them out to Annie. "Here you can wear these." He passed her the clothing and sat down on the couch beside her. He wished for a second he could see her just enough to know that she was okay. Instead, he put his arm around her.
"Thank you." She said leaning into him. "Really."
It was Friday though and Auggie had to go to work. He didn't want to but if he didn't go Joan would be suspicious.
"Annie, I have to go in to work." He said carefully. He couldn't gauge her reactions because she wasn't saying much. "I'll be back later and you need to sleep. Take the bed, I don't mind." He pointed in the general direction of the kitchen before continuing. "There's food in the fridge if you get hungry. Just try to put everything back where you find it. And if you have to go out or something I bought you some clothing. I'm had to guess your size and we can only hope that the friendly saleslady was honest when she said it would look good." He helped her up off the couch and pointed to the corner where he'd left the bags of clothing.
"I'll be okay." She said calmly. "You go." She nodded even if he could see her. He was happy to hear the confidence in her voice. So he headed to work.
Well there it is folks. I hope it was up to snuff. Reviews are appreciated but the important part is that you read this. Thank you.