Chapter 8
Oliver Lee was not fooled by the CIA's overzealous attempt to gain his favor with a sudden change of scenery. He had gone from maximum security lock up with a single plexiglass, barred window, to spacious safe house with enough glass bay windows he is certain he could rebuild the Louvre. It felt odd to be allowed to wander around the living room in real clothes, instead of that gaudy and obnoxiously orange jumpsuit that made him look like some strange, Asian imported piece of candy corn. He rubbed his wrists, unable to shake the phantom feel of handcuffs. If it were not for the agents currently standing in the four corners of the room, guarding him like a pack of starved dogs guarding a piece of meat, Oliver might have enjoyed the fire crackling in the great room hearth and the woodland scenery - which he assumed was the rural outskirts of the District of Columbia - just a stones throw away out the windows.
They wanted something. And by they, he specifically meant the arrogant and egotistical megalomaniac known as Calder Michaels. To say Oliver was bitter would have been an understatement. He should have been on his own private beach in the Bahamas by now, counting his diamonds and with a sufficiently padded bank account to accompany them. But instead he was stuck here in the United States, a man who no longer had any allegiances, much less a country, to call his own.
The sound of wheels on gravel somewhere in the distance, doors opening and closing, and muted whispers pulled Oliver from his reverie. He remained reclined on the leather couch, arms crossed, facial expression apathetic, preparing himself to be berated with whatever nonsense they had drug him into the woods to discuss. He recognized the rough, growling tone of Calder instantly. The second voice did not register with him, though from the cadence and pitch he assumed it was a woman.
She broke the threshold of the living room first, sweeping past the guards without so much as pausing. Her long, blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail, fly aways falling against the flat of her cheeks. She seemed out of place, her outfit of yoga pants and a too large t-shirt standing in stark contrast to the suits and ties of the men around her. Little did Oliver know that she had just been released from the hospital the previous morning, and her husband and newborn baby were waiting for her at home. Calder was not far behind, his short stature and broad shoulders giving him a bulldog-like appearance as he stood next to the nymph-like woman that now commanded the attention of the room. Oliver, not having moved an inch since their arrival, appraised first Calder, and then the woman, eyebrows quirked quizzically. He contemplated speaking, and even began to open his mouth- the woman stopped him.
"You won't so much as take a breath unless I tell you to." There was no room for negotiation, the ferocity of her words warding off any potential attempts. "Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Oliver smirked, which elicited from the woman an eerie half-smile that was almost snarl-like in quality.
"Joan, while I understand you have your reservations, I can handle this." Calder obviously felt the need to cater to this Joan woman, or keep her in check, which surprised and intrigued Oliver all at once. Calder Michaels bowed to no one, at least that was the impression Oliver first had of him when fate cruelly allowed their paths to cross in Hong Kong. However, it appeared that it was not Zeus who ruled Mount Olympus here, but Hera. Whoever Joan was, she was important enough that she held the upper hand.
"I'm fine, Calder." Her words were sharp, steely, her eyes on fire. "I'm done sitting idly while Annie continues to take the fall, this is no longer about the agency. This is personal."
"I never said you weren't," he conceded, "However, I'd rather we not have to explain to the DCI why you murdered a prisoner of an enemy agency on my watch."
"Noted." Joan replied, taking a seat directly across from Oliver, Michaels occupying the seat next to her. Still completely clueless as to what exactly was going on, Oliver did as he was told, and remained silent. Internally he was analyzing the fact that Michaels had so easily included murder as a possible outcome of the ensuing conversation, which was disturbing.
"Listen closely, Mr. Lee." Joan clasped her hands together, perhaps to prevent them from involuntarily reaching across the coffee table between them and wrapping themselves around his neck. "You don't know me, but there only two things you need to know in order to survive the next few minutes. My fuse when my people are threatened? Incredibly short. My tolerance for bullshit? Nonexistent."
Michaels, who had been holding a manilla folder, threw said folder down on the table. Oliver eyed it as it slid toward him across the stone surface. This was not the typical shake down, something had changed, and they were panicking. What could it be? When Michaels gestured for him to pick it up, Oliver uncrossed his arms and leaned forward to do so. He opened the folder and emptied the contents onto his lap, which consisted of several 8x10 photographs. The face that stared back at him in each photo was the same; long, black hair, familiar hazel eyes and feminine features. Oliver recognized her instantly. The color drained from his face.
"You're going to tell me why your people are still hunting Annie Walker." Joan, the poster child for ice queens, had no problem making demands. "And then you're going to tell me who the woman in these photographs is, why she is following Auggie Anderson, and how we can find her."
Silence followed Joan Campbell's ultimatums, and then it was suddenly broken by a garbled, choked sound from Oliver that could have been called a laugh. Calder and Joan exchange a glance of incredulity between one another, failing to understand what could possibly be so funny. Oliver, still rather pale looking, threw the photographs back on the table- he had seen everything he needed to see.
"Who is that?" Oliver pointed at the photographs. "Who is she?" Again his laughter sounded more like asphyxiation. "You people really don't get it, do you?"
"I think you don't get it, Oliver." Calder growled. "Answer the damn question."
"Mai Shin." The asian man replied curtly, his righteous indignation giving way to sudden seriousness. "One of the MSS most decorated assassins. She has more kills than your American special forces trained equivalents could ever hope to have in their lifetime."
Joan's unwavering glare made it very plain that she was not impressed with Oliver's holier than thou attitude. "Where is she, and what does she want with Annie?" She paused, lips pursed, eyes narrowed. "And keep in mind if you don't tell us, we will find someone else who is more persuasive."
"I have no idea where she is, and even if I could tell you, you would never find her." Oliver ran a hand over his face, the weight of the past days events heavy on his shoulders. He suddenly felt much older. Though he had suspicions something like this might happen, he had hoped it would not. "MSS is tying up loose ends. They don't want any indication that their inside ranks have been compromised to reach global ears. They obviously view Annie as a threat due to her connection to me." Oliver readjusted his position on the couch, stabbing his right index finger at the center most photo of Mai Shin for emphasis. "What you need to understand is that Mai is incredibly dangerous- a machine. She won't stop with Annie, if that is in fact her endgame. She'll go after anyone else who is close to her, and eventually she will likely attempt to come for me as well."
The atmosphere in the room became suffocating in the seconds following Oliver's revelation, and during that short span of time, everything changed. Urgency replaced inquisition; time was now of the essence.
"Calder, call Auggie. Now." No longer focused on Oliver, this time it was Joan's complexion that paled, her previous viciousness replaced with a smoldering flame of fear that flickered in her eyes. There was no force more powerful than a mother who felt their child was threatened. "I have to get back to Mack and Arthur." She stood, hovering, as if she were undecided on what to do next, her newfound motherly instincts warring with years of instinct that came with being a spy. She met Oliver's gaze and held it, unwavering and cold. With a deep breath she turned back to Calder, brow furrowed and frown in place. "Assess the situation, and then report in when you know more."
"I'm on it. Go." Calder was already adjusting his blue tooth head piece, nodding toward one of the agents in the room while he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Agent Reed, escort Mrs. Campbell home immediately. Alert our security team that I want the Campbell residence put under 24 hour surveillance until we neutralize this threat." Joan gave Calder's arm a fleeting touch of gratitude, a gesture of kindness Calder was surprised to receive. He simply nodded, but said nothing else. Joan promptly exited the room with Agent Reed scrambling at her heels, leaving Oliver and "The Sheriff" alone except for the remaining two agents.
"You're playing with fire, agent Michaels." Oliver warned ominously. "This won't end well."
"Good thing I was a boy scout." Calder snapped. "Now I suggest you shut up."
Faking deaths, catching traitors, stopping assassins- one thing was certain; once this global goose chase was over, Calder Michaels was taking a vacation. The phone rang in Calder's ear and he muttered a prayer of urgency for Auggie to pick up the encrypted cell he was carrying. The current look on his face was very similar to the one he had given Oliver during their plane ride back from Hong Kong just nights before. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard the phone line connect.
"Auggie, it's Calder. Listen, we've got a problem."
August Anderson was at an impasse.
A phone call from Calder, at the bright and early hour of 1 in the morning, was the last thing he had been expecting. He, Eyal and Danielle had settled into a makeshift safe house in Amsterdam on one of the outer canals of the city, setting up a temporary center of operations from which they could monitor Hummingbird from his laptop. Auggie's initial plan had been to make contact with Joost, assuming their old protocols were still in place it should have been a simple task. However, Calder's news, delivered to Auggie (in a sleep deprived and groggy state of half-awareness upon answering his phone) had effectively put a stop to his plans altogether.
Auggie now had two new problems in addition to the already existing problem of trying to find Annie (which, in reality, was really more like a hundred problems wrapped up into one, but that was another issue entirely).
One: they were being tailed by a deadly MSS assassin who very likely wanted all of them dead.
Two: he had been ordered to stand down until said assassin was apprehended. Which, in other words, was Calder's subtle way of telling him that solving his first problem - finding Annie - would have to be temporarily put on hold.
Auggie was not stupid. Remaining inside the safe house and lying low until Calder and an ops team could get on the ground to serve as back-up was the safest, most logical option. He and Eyal could hold their own in a high-risk situation, but Danielle was the most vulnerable being a civilian without defensive training. The new threat, Mai Shin, was an unknown, unpredictable variable. On top of that fact that she was specially trained to execute her targets. All these things combined made her all the more dangerous. However, despite the fact that Auggie's internal solider-boy compass was practically screaming at him to follow directives and not ask questions for the sake of everyone's safety, his heart was doing the complete opposite.
And thus the impasse presented itself.
Annie was still out there, without any means of being able to contact any of them, and most likely having no idea that a Chinese MSS agent currently had her on a shoot-to-kill list. There was also Joost to consider, a victim of circumstance, who was now caught up in the middle of this unlikely turn of events. Every second Auggie sat in that damn apartment, following orders, was another second Annie remained in harms way. The anxiety that assaulted him was indescribable, and sitting in the dark of the living room, waiting for daybreak because he could not sleep, it became torturous. The thought of something else happening to Annie, to any of them, when they had been so close to finally ending all of this madness, was nearly enough to send him over the edge. He would be damned if they did not make it home this time- all of them. More importantly there were still things he needed to tell Annie, things he had not been able to tell her with the constant chaos that had surround their lives the past few months in their pursuit of Henry.
And if he did not get the chance, he would never forgive himself.
As the city began to stir Auggie moved around the small living room restlessly, exploring the different nooks and crannies with his cane and committing the layout to memory in an attempt to distract himself, but to little avail. His headphones and computer remained on the couch, the only piece of furniture in the small area. He fingered his cellphone in his jacket pocket, wishing Calder would call him, but knowing that it would take the CIA at least twenty-four hours to reach the Netherlands with a fully functioning ops team. Down the hall he could hear the distinctive sound of Eyal's snores filtering through the thin walled apartment. Danielle undoubtedly exhausted from their journey, remained in a restful sleep. The heating system, old and noisy, reverberated throughout the building and gave him an additional sound to focus on besides his own breathing.
He stopped pacing abruptly, folding his hands over the top of his cane and closing his eyes with a frustrated sigh.
Impasses were only overcome by arbitration. But Auggie already knew he had settled the dispute in his head long before now.
Turning back toward the couch, Auggie gathered his laptop and headphones into his bag. Without alerting Eyal or Danielle, he stepped out of the apartment, and into a crisp and frozen Amsterdam morning. His fingers curled around his cane against the frigid cold. Further down the small street the sound of children laughing echoed toward him, and when he began walking snow crunched beneath his feet.
A/N: Who DIDN'T love Oliver's character? I hope Carl comes back to Covert Affairs next season! Also, Mai Shin is a fictional MSS character I created for the purpose of this story. I usually don't like making new characters and upsetting the balance, but we needed a bad guy. Hopefully she'll keep y'all guessing. ;)
So can the team overcome this latest threat? Who's side is Oliver on? Where is Auggie going?! AHHH!
Thanks so much for the reviews y'all, makes my day every time! Hope the story is still meeting your expectations! Stay tuned! Questions, comments? Ask me and tell me in the reviews!