freshoffthefarm | [MEME] -- #5, the AU from Hell

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[MEME] -- #5, the AU from Hell

[From here, as requested by

fakes]
--

It was an op in Vegas, which was so weird since most of her domestic ops stayed in the DC Metro area, and Annie had done her job well. The extra babysitting had been extra annoying (when wasn't it?), but he'd come along to visit an old friend... or so he'd said.

She hadn't seen hide or hair of him during her mission, but when she went to have a drink in the bar at their hotel late the night before they were supposed to leave, she found him sitting in a dark corner. When didn't he sit in dark corners, really, but she rolled her eyes and put a smile on her face to join him.

Their breakup and subsequent dealings had been difficult, and after that State Dinner, she'd gone out of her way to keep her distance from him as much as possible. That didn't mean they couldn't enjoy a drink or two (or seven) while in Vegas.

Unfortunately--

When Annie woke to the pounding in her head, she almost couldn't open her eyes. When she finally managed, she ignored the immense nausea she felt and peered at the walls in the hotel room she was in. She hadn't been given this nice of a room, not on the Agency's dime, no. This was something else. Turning, she caught sight of a man's head and her eyes widened, causing the pounding to pick up and she clenched her eyes shut again with a groan.

Clapping both hands, right over left, on her head, she felt something heavy and lifted them again almost immediately. Seeing the wedding ring set on her left hand, she gasped.

"Oh, my God."

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He may not have been her favorite person in the world, but she wasn't the kind of person to panic over having sex with an ex. Well, unless that ex was Fifty Dollar Ben, but-- No.

She threw back the covers, then pulled them back quickly when she realized that they had, in fact, likely had sex. Lots of sex, probably. The only thing missing were handcuffs to confirm it. She was so naked and her skin was flushing as she shook her head and sat up, her back to him.

There was no bathrobe on the floor, just a long line of clothing - hers and his - from the door to the bed. "This room is huge. Do you stay in places like this a lot when you travel?"

Complaining made her feel like she had a handle on the situation, right up until she found their marriage certificate on the table near the door, just as she finished pulling his shirt over her head. Holding it up as she turned, she added, "Big problem."

Clay could think of worse things than sex with Annie and from the looks of things it was probably good.

He found his shorts near the end of the bed and put them on. "The room was complementary. Helps to know the President of Operations."

When he looked at what Annie found on the table near the door, "Very big problem."

That's when he looked at his hand, and the night table. On his hand was a simple platinum band, with milgrain detail. On the night stand, sat his Harvard Ring.

He'd spoken so mildly, she wasn't sure if he'd heard her or seen their very big problem. She shook it a little and crossed the room, holding out her hand to help him along to Panic City.

"Clay." She wiggled her fingers, just in case he'd missed the two-carat diamond ring and it's matching band on her finger. "A very big problem."

It absolutely astounded her that, even when he was obviously completely toasted off his ass, the man still managed to find the most incredible jewelry in existence and make sure it found it's way into her possession.

"That's at least a few thousand dollars worth of a problem." He reached for his pants, located near the door of the bedroom, and found his wallet and the receipt, "38 to be exact."

He had to admit that if he wasn't completely drunk, he'd probably have given Annie a ring similar to that, maybe not quite as large.

After Clay'd finished the internal critique of his choice in rings, the initial feelings of panic set in. Just what were they going to do?

Edited 2012-07-09 21:41 (UTC)

The sound Annie made when he read the receipt out loud was a cross between a gasp, a cry and possibly a choke. She hadn't paid that much for her Volkswagen and now it was sitting on her hand.

"There has to be a way to take it back, right? You have to take it back. Thirty-eight thousand dollars?" By the end, she was sitting down in the chair at the table, her right hand cupping her left as if to protect the rings from outside damage. "What are we going to do. Our flight's in three hours."

He wasn't even sure if there was a return policy for thirty-eight thousand dollar ring sets. "I really don't know if it can go back." He did notice, however, that she wasn't taking the rings off.

As far as what they were going to do in three hours, "I can pay for an upgrade to first class? Might as well get the airline perks." he knew it wasn't the time for a joke, even if it was mostly serious.

If looks could kill, she'd have been a widow.

"Are you making jokes at a time like this? Seriously?" Her tone was scathing. She stood again, pacing the floor still dressed in nothing but his dress shirt from the night before. Not like she was going to say no to a first class upgrade on a cross-country flight since hey, the Agency didn't splurge like that. "We're going to have to file for an annulment or get a divorce and oh, God. Joan's never letting me out of the bullpen again. Ever."

Clay elected to put on his pants and his t-shirt before sitting across from the seat Annie recently occupied. "It was just a joke. I thought it would help diffuse some of the panic."

He took a deep breath as if to compose himself before continuing, "I assume we can file for an annulment. We were both intoxicated. The problem is time. We're leaving here in three hours. I don't know if it can happen that quickly."

"I'm sure that we can," Annie said in agreement. "We'd have to fill out the paperwork, head to the courthouse, file and then head back to DC and wait for it to come through and who knows how long that'll take?" Between three and five days, at a minimum.

She shook her head, wincing when the pounding started again. "I need coffee. Lots of coffee. Do you want to shower first or should I?"

"So, we need to pretend this didn't happen for about a week?"

It was the best choice of action he supposed. "You go ahead. I'll wait."

Clay planned on ordering room service coffee, he figured it would be comped too, considering his poker winnings of thirty-eight thousand dollars the night before, which meant he spent it all on Annie. He doubted that little fact would go over well.

He didn't need to sound like that about it, even if he was right. Pretending it didn't happen was the best course of action.

In the bathroom, Annie contemplated what to do with the rings she was wearing: she could take them off and leave them on the counter, but the risk she ran of knocking them into the sink terrified her. Same went with leaving them on. So, she took them off and set them on the floor in the middle of the rug. Then she hung Webb's shirt on the back of the door and got in the shower.

Between wetting her hair and washing it, and washing her hair and conditioning it, she peeked to make sure the rings were still there. She stared at them while she dried off and then she hurriedly put them back on. Then she put on a robe and exited the bathroom. "I, uh... left your shirt on the back of the door."

While Annie was in the shower, room service delivered their coffee. Clay took the aspirin out of his suitcase and put it on the tray with the coffee, just in case Annie needed it when she came out of the bathroom.

It was then that he realized that he was more upset with how their marriage happened rather than it happened. That was another fact that he was going to keep to himself. Annulment was the best thing to do.

"Thanks," he said when she mentioned his shirt, "the coffee came." And with that he was in the bathroom to take his own shower.

The second he disappeared, Annie took her first deep breath since waking up. Stepping over to the tray, she found the aspirin he'd left and gave a soft smile. He always did know how to take good care of her. She downed them, and an entire cup of coffee, in a hurry, then went on a quest for her clothes.

She knew her suitcase was on another floor entirely, but what she had in the room would have to do. Apparently, she'd gotten married in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.

"Could have been worse," she muttered to herself, opening the closet to find her shoes. "At least the shirt was white."

Then her jaw dropped. In the closet was the most stunning dress she'd ever seen. Along with her suitcase. Which meant that they'd not only gotten married, but had the foresight to go back to her room and get her things. She didn't understand why the dress was hung up and her street clothes were strewn around, though--

"Bride?" The back of her shirt glittered in the room's mirror and she shook her head. "Oh, good Lord."

Reaching for his jacket, she put her hands in the pockets to see if any other gems came up to define the night and she pulled out his casino ticket. He'd won just over forty-one grand, which meant that her rings had cost almost everything he'd won. Just perfect.

More guilt.

Clay's shower made his headache subside just a little bit. At least the pounding stopped. The aspirin outside should help the rest of the way before they had to head over to the courthouse.

He left the bathroom, fully dressed in his favorite dark blue dress shirt and beige pants. He was flying soon and didn't feel like he needed his suit. The last thing he had to do was pack up everything that was still strewn on the floor.

After he took his aspirin he went about packing up the remnants of his suit.

Annie was just as quiet as she removed her suitcase from the closet and laid it across the bed.

"We must have gone back to my room last night and gotten my things," she told him. "I don't remember, but..." She shrugged a little. "I'm sorry."

She needed to call down and ask if she still needed to check out. Without really thinking, she pulled the dress down and laid it on the bed next to the suitcase. Then she reached for the phone.

"You don't have to apologize for anything," he was about to end his thought when she reached back into the closet to get the dress, "except for your t-shirt." He was trying to keep the humor in the whole situation.

When he saw the dress, his jaw almost hit the floor, "That dress is beautiful...and I hate that I don't remember you in it."

He silently hoped there would be a photo somewhere.

"I'm hoping it was a gift from the chapel that's responsible," she told him wryly as she looked at him. "Don't worry, I'll change before we get on the plane."

When he admired the dress, she couldn't resist smiling at it and hoping there was a photo somewhere, too. To be honest, if she were alone, she probably would have put it on, just to see how she looked in it. She smoothed her hand over the fabric and then turned back to the closet to look for a garment bag. "If I knew where it came from, I'd try to take it back. I'm sure it was expensive, too."

She didn't want to admit she'd seen the casino receipt.

"It probably was, considering the rings." Clay took one last look at the dress, "I don't know. If that dress came out of it, there are worse things."

He packed with little effort, and put his Harvard ring on his other hand. Since they were married, under whatever set of circumstances they became married, he'd still wear the wedding ring.

Calling down to the front desk, Annie gave her name for starters and was rewarded with, "Mrs. Webb! Good morning."

Annie cut off the overly cheerful woman before she got too far. "No, Walker. I'm calling to find out if I've checked out--"

The woman returned the favor and cut her off as well. "You checked out when you returned early this morning, Mrs. Webb. Everything's been taken care of. Will there be anything else?"

Annie took a breath, thought better of it and shook her head even though the woman couldn't see it. "No. Thank you."

Hanging up, she turned to Webb. "I, uh, checked out when we got back early this morning. They're very happy for us, apparently."

The rest of her packing took two minutes and she went to the mini-bar for a water bottle. It was the first thing she'd done that she had absolutely no guilt about. Downing half the bottle in one drink, she looked at him. "We should hurry."

He could hear the exuberance of the person at the front desk. From the sound of it, he and Annie were probably very happy after their nuptials and it's not like Annie couldn't be noticed in that dress. More things he kept to himself.

Clay checked his watch after zipping his suitcase, "You're right."

Annie's mind was where Clay's was and she wondered what he was thinking. If he was as torn on their wedding as she was. She couldn't help but remember just how he'd felt about their future just a few months previous and she didn't want to discuss it in depth now.

Reaching for the dress in it's bag, her purse and her suitcase, she took a deep breath. "I'm ready if you are."

"I'm all set." However the question, 'Do you really want to do this?' was on the tip of his tongue. What he'd said a few months ago was also in the forefront of his mind, but so was the fact that he'd been looking at that wedding ring set six weeks prior to their fall out. Apparently winning three hands of cards made him bold.

Clay led the way to the door of the hotel room, they just needed to get to the courthouse and the airport in the next three hours. It shouldn't be that hard, right?

In the elevator, Annie stood by herself, her head down as she contemplated the best way to ask the questions she had. For the time being, she thought it best if she didn't say anything at all.

At the lobby, she said, "If we take a cab, it shouldn't be that long, right? The courthouse should just be a few papers to fill out and then we can get to the airport. It's not far and that's still an hour, right?"

And an annulment would keep his fortune intact.

Clay said nothing on the trip down from the room to the lobby and kept his eyes fixed on the doors. He felt anything he said would cause this to become much more complicated than it needed to be. They weren't the first or the last couple looking for an annulment withing 24 hours. Annie might be the first who happened to be wearing thirty-eight thousand dollars worth of diamonds on her finger though.

When she mentioned the cab it snapped him out of his silence but he didn't sound too thrilled with his answer, "We should have everything taken care of, buy that first class upgrade, and still have plenty of time to make it to the plane."

The fact that he wasn't happy didn't go unnoticed and her miserable went up another notch.

"I know you're not happy, but can you fake it since these people obviously thought we were six hours ago?" She put her best smile on her face, unaware it was the one he loved so much just before turning to face the lady at the front desk. Sliding her room key across the counter, she said, "We're checking out. Thank you so much."

The lady checked a few things, comped the water Annie drank and wished them well.

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