Annie POV
I walked out into the hot desert air, almost suffocating me. I felt the tears pricking my eyes threaten to spill over and hastily blinked them away. The flurry of activity had increased, and as if in a daze, I dodged every person coming towards me, heading to the tent where Jai and I were staying. I wondered if he heard the whole conversation.
As soon as I stepped into the tent, I was greeted with the sight of him packing up what little he had brought with him.
He looked up as I entered, his face set.
"Start packing, Walker. We leave right before sunset. I have a contact meeting us here with a car."
He met my eyes and I thought I saw a sign of sympathy pass through them. So, I thought, he had heard us.
I nodded and walked to my bed, tugging my suitcase out from underneath my bed. I pulled the little Lady Colt from underneath my pillow and put it into my ankle-holster. I looked around and found the picture I had hidden underneath the mattress.
It had been taken a few months ago, but those months felt like they were years in the past. It was of Auggie and I, at a baseball game, his arm slung casually around my shoulder and an easy smile on his face. I smiled slightly at the memory and slipped the photo into my suitcase as well.
"You'll be alright, Annie."
I jumped, I hadn't heard Jai cross the room. He sounded like his lips were right at my ear, I realized that what he had said wasn't a question; it was a statement.
"Yeah," I whispered, zipping up my suitcase and shutting my emotions into a tight locker that was sure to explode sometime soon.
"I heard what he said," Jai began, I turned to see that he looked slightly out of place, "and I want you to know that once this whole mess is cleared up, I'll come back here with you and kick his ass for being so stupid."
I cracked a small smile, "It's alright, Jai, we'll probably be needed elsewhere. No point in coming back here if it's not for a mission."
Jai POV
My eyes widened slightly, her voice had gone neutral again, but I could tell that there was an underlying pain hidden behind those words. She still loved him, I realized, and felt for her. It made me want to kick his ass even more for breaking her like this.
I squeezed her shoulder tightly, "Annie, you'll get through this, I know you will. If you need someone to talk to, I'll be here for you."
With that said, I walked out of the tent, jogging towards the tent where Parker and the others were staying. As soon as I walked in, I almost mowed the brunette down.
"Oh! Jai, I was just looking for you, there's -
"Annie and I are leaving," I cut in softly, trying my best not to deck the blind guy next to her.
"What?" She had a confused expression on her face, "But you just got here! What happened?"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Auggie flinch at my words.
"There's an emergency at our company, apparently they lost our papers getting in here and the embassy is demanding our return. God, I know it's on such short notice, I just wish we could've stayed longer," I feigned hurt.
She sighed, "It's alright, it's not your fault. Will you guys be back?"
As if on cue, hope immediately lit up Auggie's face. I felt slightly bad for what I was about to say next, but quickly brushed it off.
"Probably not, we have so many assignments as is, they'll probably send someone else here if anyone else volunteers. Otherwise, you guys won't here from us again," this statement was directed towards Auggie, "I just wanted to let you know."
"Well it was nice meeting you, we're all sorry to see you go. I know Auggie was looking forward to spending some more time with you," she sympathized.
I nodded, "Likewise."
With that said, I walked away from the couple and out of the tent, containing my furry but just barely.
A few Hours Later . . .
Annie POV
The roar of the jeep as it came to us was deafening compared to the relatively silent night. The wind that it created tugged at my ponytail and swirled sand at my feet. The night was merciless and as the sun was just barely touching the horizon, the wind picked up.
"Austin!"Jai called, we were on the outskirts of the camp, bags in hand, as we climbed aboard the Jeep.
"Jai, you're running out of favors," our travel companion growled.
I turned to look back at the quickly disappearing camp behind us, reflecting on what I was leaving behind.
Do you even know that I'm gone?
The Jeep sped away quickly, making the cluster of tents with the fires glowing around it seem smaller and smaller, until it was just barely a blimp in the sand. He was there, I thought, I regretted not telling him I was going, but would he have really cared?
I wonder if you'll miss me months from now.
We bumped along the sand dunes, our driver listening to the direction that Jai had received from Bill, back at Langley. In the few hours before we had left, Bill had gotten us the exact location of the camp, though there were several like it scattered in the desert.
The ride was strangely silent, with only Jai's voice filling in the driver breaking me from my thoughts.
"Get some rest, Annie, we should be there when the sun rises," Jai whispered in my ear and I nodded, closing my eyes. I thought that sleep would never come but finally, the fatigue in my body won out and I dozed in a dreamless sleep. No feelings, no dreams, just black.
Jai POV
We sped along the night, and as we continued on towards the camp, my thoughts began to turn towards the woman sitting next to me. Over the few years she had accumulated at Langley, we had gotten to know each other; not on the level she had gotten to know Auggie, by no means, but we had grown closer. I realized that I was starting to have feelings for her; more friendly and strangely protective.
As she slept on, I saw her face tighten with pain and immediately wanted to wake her up and ask about her sprain, but realized that it was probably an emotional wound rather than a physical one.
Suddenly, I felt the satellite phone Joan had given me vibrate and ring and quickly picked it up.
"Yeah, what's up, Bill?"
`"Jai, we have some news. The terrorist camp is beginning to show some signs nuclear activity. I had a helicopter circle once around them a few hours ago and the pilot told me that from the radioactive signals he got, they're building a bomb."
I cursed under my breathe.
"Austin, how long before we get there?" I whispered to the driver.
He shrugged, "Five, six hours?"
"Make it four," I growled and was immediately thrown back against my seat.
"They have your asset, the pilot saw him being dragged towards the doorway to relieve himself but I don't think this is a regular political revolution group," Bill continued.
"Then what the hell are they?" I demanded.
There was a light pause, "Assassination, would be my guess."
"Do we have any idea who they're targeting right now?" I asked, looking towards Annie to see that she was beginning to stir.
"Well, this is just my theory but since we're assuming they're an assassination group and they captured one of the assets at the Peace Corps that just happens to have ties to us, my guess would be someone in the corps that has a strong position at the CIA."
I knew what he was talking about, he didn't need to say the name.
"She was right," I whispered quickly, my eyes widening.
"Who was right?"
I turned towards Annie to see that she was now awake, rubbing her eyes and blinking rapidly to clear her vision.
Ignoring her, I pressed on for more information, "How fast can you guys get a team out to the peace corps located in Eritrea? The one we just left?"
There was a pause, "I don't know, I would have to ask Joan or Arthur about that one. Eritrea is off limits for now, Jai, you guys are off book. The only way to get people there is if they volunteer and can keep it a secret, otherwise we can't."
That was the answer I dreaded.
"They're going after Auggie?" Annie asked, her voice hard and her eyes almost icy.
I hesitated, "We aren't sure yet but chances are they might be."
"Dammit, Jai! I told you that this could happen, we should've stayed and -
"Annie, our mission is to get our asset out, didn't we already go through this? What will happen in that camp in Eritrea does not concern us. As far as we know, the intel could be wrong!"
She glared at me, "You're really willing to bet that? Because if you are, then you're not the man I thought you were."
I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face, "Bill, you still there?"
"Yeah, Jai, what do you need?"
"I want a check- in every hour on the group's activities and I want a copter circling them and giving me their location. If they move, hell, if they so much as breathe I want to know about it."
We were now going to fight two wars, I realized.
"God," I mumbled to no one in particular, "This is going to hit the fan soon."