[AU] ... from the 'meet at a different time' meme

[freshoffthefarm]

After two years at the Agency, Annie's job hadn't gotten any better (or worse). Sure, it had it's downsides - namely, being shot at (or being shot), but the biggest one had to be the Agency parking lot.

She could never, ever find a parking spot.

Of course, the morning that she'd gotten up early and proceeded to spill coffee on her first outfit, had to jump start her car and then fill a tire with air? She managed to get behind the chatty son-of-a-bitch in the compensation car at the guard shack. She sat there, plotting the ways to key his car without actually getting caught and then he'd moved on.

Smiling at the guys in the shack, she showed her ID, waited until they'd looked under her cars with mirrors, and then picked up the pace on the way to the agent parking lot.

It just wasn't her morning.

The short cut she took through the visitor lot took her right past the spots in front for all the diplomats and the Agency hotshots. She didn't see Mr. Compensation trying to adjust his parking until she'd plowed into his rear bumper.

Comments

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay's morning was always very routine. He woke up, took a shower, got dressed in whatever suit wasn't at the cleaners, had a cup of coffee with his newspaper then got in his Aston Martin and drove to the office. Depending on traffic, he'd arrive at the guard sack sometime between 20 minutes and an hour later. He'd say 'hello' to whoever was keeping watch that day, then be in his parking space and at his desk ten minutes later.

Today was all going according to plan until he heard that unmistakable sound of his rear bumper coming into contact with someone else's front bumper.

When he got out of the car to see who it was he was not happy.

[freshoffthefarm]

Not how things were supposed to go. Not at all. And though she'd been in far worse situations and had far worse days? For some reason, hearing the crunch that came with hitting someone else's fancy, expensive car just made her want to cry.

Sucking it up, she took a deep breath, pushed her emergency flashers and pushed open her door. Four inch heels, short skirt and a blouse that was probably questionable in terms of professional? Fine. She'd accidentally left her blazer on her backseat. It was spring.

"Are you okay?" First things first.

[freshoffthefarm]

Annie had been right. The deep cover op was going to go down whether or not she felt entirely comfortable in her own skin for it and it was going to go down six days from today. She had six days to put all her affairs in order and the CIA had six days to pull all other assets from the Eastern European country that she was supposed to go and become comfortable in.

When Joan told her there was a meeting upstairs that she needed to attend, and that the entire morning had been a shitstorm for everyone involved so watch her step and keep her mouth shut, Annie gathered up her leather notebook, a pen and went to do as she was told.

In the smallest conference room on the 7th floor, Annie stood in the corner looking out over the view of the parking lot and waited.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay was five minutes late for the meeting with the operative from the DPD that Joan recommended. Joan told Clay the person in question was her best. He trusted Joan to make that call.

The look on his face when he saw Annie Walker standing in the conference room was pure surprise. He doubted he could hide it if he wanted.

"Ms. Walker," Clay said by way of greeting before sitting at the table in the center of the room and putting his pile of files on the table.

[freshoffthefarm]

Five and a half months later, Annie Walker sat in a reception room at two-thirty in the morning, exhausted. The op had gone off without much of a hitch at all. Joan would be proud of her, the Agency would be proud of her and she was supremely proud of herself.

Physically, she was grimy; she just felt it. From head to toe, she knew she looked all the worse for wear. Dark hair, circles under her eyes and she'd lost something close to fifteen pounds on a body that didn't have fifteen pounds to lose. Her smile was still there, though, as she talked back and forth with the agents who were debriefing her, even as her body ached and her mind screamed for twenty straight hours of sleep.

At the spot she was in, she didn't care if she showered first.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay sat on the other side of the mirror in the reception room watching Annie. He was proud of her and proud of what they accomplished. She was right, and he was able to put his faith in her. That was something he wouldn't soon forget.

When it was over, he got up from his seat and headed into the hallway wanting to speak to her privately after the debrief.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

After the Agency's requisite two weeks leave, Clay sent Annie an email asking her to meet him for coffee, after work, in a small coffee shop near his condo in Alexandria.

It would give them enough space away from work to actually talk to one another away from the CIA's influence. He also hoped it would cut back on Annie calling him 'Sir.'

Around 7PM he sat on the right side of the shop facing the front door, Annie's coffee already ordered and waited.

[freshoffthefarm]

Two weeks had given Annie time to have her hair dyed back to it's regular color and to put a little weight back on. It relieved some of the gaunt look in her face and when she arrived at the coffee shop, she looked a little more like the woman he'd first met - minus the Golf.

She'd driven the Corvette to the coffee shop, which happened to be her first Monday back. Seeing him in the corner, she gave him a smile and approached, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"Mr. Webb," she said, still not quite ready to call him Clay and not about to call him 'Director' in a public place. Sliding into the seat opposite him, she said, "How've you been?"

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay sent another email to Annie similar to the first only this time, asking to meet for drinks. He planned on picking her up this time.

He was surprised when he got the Agency auto responded. The surprise came mostly from the proximity of this mission to her deep cover op. So he'd have to put off drinks for another few days. It'd be worth it.

[freshoffthefarm]

Two days after he got her auto-respond, he got an actual response. This one said that she'd love to meet her for drinks and since he knew where she lived, she had no problems with him picking her up. He just had to give her a date and time.

[freshoffthefarm]

The morning dawned bright and not-so-early, and when Annie finally looked at the clock, it read just after ten o'clock. She stretched, grinned and rolled over, hugging her pillow before she sat up and started looking at movie times. There was nothing all that good playing, and she didn't want to stick him with an awful romantic movie, so she settled on something bland at four in the afternoon before starting her coffee and getting in the shower.

Once she was dressed, she picked up her phone. Glancing at the clock, she realized that at eleven-thirty, it might be a little early. Or late. She wasn't sure and she hated the uncertainty she felt suddenly, as if she were back in high school.

After a small groan, she dialed.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay answered his cell phone on the second ring, "Webb."

He didn't know Annie's number by heart and it wasn't programmed in his cell phone quite yet.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

The next morning, Clay woke up early enough to make it home, change into his riding gear and meet his mother. The unfortunate part of it all was that he'd have to leave Annie's bedroom.

He decided to do it as nicely as possible, and kissed her forehead once he snuck out of bed, "I need to go meet my mother. I'll call you tonight."

[freshoffthefarm]

When she felt the feel of his lips against her forehead, Annie didn't open her eyes, but she did give him a sleepy smile before reaching out with her hand to squeeze his.

"Mmmkay," she mumbled before shifting to pull her pillow closer and snuggle back under the covers. Sunday morning was sacred in her house, especially if she was home. "Havefunwithyourmom."

The last bit came out all one word as she fell back to sleep.

[freshoffthefarm]

Annie's morning went exactly like she thought it would, though she wasn't assigned to go anywhere -- yet. At three minutes to eleven, she signed off her computer and reached for her purse, sitting upright as Jai stopped at her desk.

"You're in a hurry," he said as he leaned against the edge casually.

"You know how I feel about my coffee," she told him, standing. "I get grumpy if someone stands in the way."

He made a motion toward the elevator. "I'd never do that."

"Such a smart man," she said as she walked away. Two minutes later, she was in line at Starbucks, waiting patiently.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay's morning went exactly the way he thought it would too. A boring Director's meeting followed by an equally boring staff meeting. Coffee with Annie really was the only thing that kept him going through all of it.

He arrived down at the Starbucks a few seconds shy of Annie and wound up right behind her. "Good Morning."

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

At seven thirty, Clay pulled up to Annie's apartment building in what he'll forever think of as his midlife crisis, thanks to her, parked, then walked up to the door and rang her bell.

He was still in his favorite suit, the navy blue, but lacked flowers or anything else. He did however, remember to put a bag in his trunk in case this date went the way of the last one.

[freshoffthefarm]

Annie answered the door promptly, having changed into a dress from the skirt and blouse she'd worn to work. When she saw him, she smiled and said, "Just let me grab my purse."

She left the door open in case he wanted to step inside while she did just that, though it didn't take her more than ten seconds.

"How was the rest of your day?"

[freshoffthefarm]

When Annie's alarm went off in the morning, she stretched - arms over her head, toes out of the bottom of the blanket - before reaching to turn it off. Then she looked for Clay.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Webb was already up and in Annie's kitchen making coffee. He showered and dressed in everything but his tie and suit jacket. The last thing he wanted to do was disrupt Annie's morning routine enough that she'd be late for work.

[freshoffthefarm]

Annie's morning went fairly smoothly, though she was being tasked to a quick - relatively quick - mission to Spain. It didn't put a damper on her eleven o'clock with Clay since she wasn't leaving until four, but she did feel a little disappointed that she had to leave so soon after everything seemed to be going so well.

In the cafeteria, she bought his coffee along with hers and sat in the corner, waiting for him to arrive, hoping the fact that she was a little on edge didn't show.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

His morning was full of meetings and bureaucracy, the same as any other early week morning really. Nothing was unexpected, and he was very glad about that. At 11AM he went down to the cafeteria to meet Annie for coffee.

Clay spotted her almost as soon as he entered the cafeteria and sat across from her, "You didn't have to buy my coffee."

[freshoffthefarm]

Nine days later, Annie found herself on Webb's doorstep at four o'clock in the morning. Her flight had arrived a half-hour earlier and she hadn't wanted to call... not yet. She only knew where he lived because she'd gone looking.

Rather than knock, she dialed.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay had just fallen asleep about two hours prior to Annie's phone call. She'd been gone a week and two days and he swore he hadn't slept that poorly in years. When his cell phone rang, he expected the worst.

"Webb," he said, sounding like he'd just woken up, which he had.

[freshoffthefarm]

When Annie woke up, she had a very vague memory of Clay getting up and getting dressed and something about her staying as long as she'd like, but no memory of his actually leaving. The feeling of luxuriating in his bed for a while longer made her stretch and enjoy the moment, though, and she did, pulling the sheet up to her chin and sighing happily.

After several long minutes, she glanced at the clock and finally crawled out of bed, remembering that she was wearing his t-shirt and that made her smile, too. She found the coffee he'd left and re-heated it in the microwave before drinking it while standing in his kitchen.

She made use of his shower, then got re-dressed in his t-shirt while she did laundry and re-packed her suitcase, this time swapping out his t-shirt for clothes of her own. Then she packed his shirt in with her own clothes, promising to wash it at home before returning it to him.

Only then did she start looking through his closet, smiling at the way his clothes were color-coded and lined up, shoes on the floor. The way his music was set up on his iPod. She sat at his piano and pushed a couple keys before feeling like a child playing on a grown-up's piano and then she sat down on his couch to wait. She didn't want to actually snoop.

Once she realized that he was going to be back for dinner, she wanted to pop out to the store to get a few things. Once there, she realized she'd locked herself out, so she sat in her car and waited... but it was only about ten minutes.

[fakes-death.livejournal.com]

Clay's day was uneventful after his initial reprimand from the Director of Couter-intel. Kershaw did not appreciate Webb's tardiness, but Clay assured him it wouldn't happen again.

He didn't go into the reason for his lateness, other than to say it was something personal. Kershaw knew about his relationship with Mac, and Webb didn't want him involved in his relationship wit Annie, at least not yet.

When he pulled into his driveway, he wasn't surprised to see Annie's car, but he was surprised to see Annie in the car. When he got out he went to the driver's side of her car, "Hi."