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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"I sincerely hope that you know I have more faith in your marksmanship skills than that," Annie said with a teasing smirk as she squeezed his hand again. "I'd rather you didn't shoot a gun in my general direction, but I'd understand if you had to."

She paused thoughtfully. "Of course, I'd also hope you'd tell me if I was hanging out with a master assassin, but..." She shrugged as if to say, 'the job'.

"I hope I never have that problem again. It's one of the reasons I gave up field work."

Clay had enough of putting those he cared about in danger. He's a little more removed from it now, but occasionally it was still a problem.

"I understand."

Annie didn't feel like now was the time to point out, yet again, that he was married to a field agent. Instead, she cupped his hand with both of hers and sighed. "I hope you're not put in that position again, Clay. Especially now and not just because we're married."

"If I am, I've done it before. It's not a situation I like, but I can handle it."

And with Annie he expected nights of nightmares and days of worry. He wouldn't like it but he could handle it. "As long as you keep coming home, it'll be fine."

"I trust you to handle every situation that comes up. You're the best agent I know and I know you can do it," she told him.

She went back to being quiet on the drive, her hand holding his tightly.

Clay kept a hold of her hand and drove quietly until he saw a string of fast food places on the way back home. They both had to eat, and this was a quick and easy solution.

"Which one, Wendy's, Burger King, or McDonalds?"

"Wendy's." Her answer came promptly. "One of those really big burgers, fries, coke-- no, a chocolate milkshake."

Obviously, her appetite was back now that she'd gotten the breaking news out of the way. "Actually, no. A coke and one of those Frosty things." A pause. "I'm hungry."

Webb just chuckled as he turned to pull into the drive-thru of the Wendys. He ordered everything that Annie asked for and a burger, fries, and a Sprite for himself. Once everything was handed over from the takeout window and he passed it over to Annie to check the bag he was on his way back to the condo.

"I bet no one at The Agency would think I ate this."

"That's because no one at the Agency knows about your addiction to hot dog carts, either," she told him, taking a french fry from the bag and holding it out so he could eat it before taking one from the bag for herself. "Come to think of it, I'd bet there's a lot of things they don't know about you."

It may have been the best french fry he'd had in a long time.

"There are quite a few things they don't know about me. Just like I think there are a few they don't know about you."

"More than quite a few, actually. Like how I have a thing for handcuffs... or is that you?" Her tone was overly thoughtful as she pondered the question while looking out the window. She couldn't look at him or she'd crack a smile.

Clay could have sworn he turned bright red as soon as she mentioned the handcuffs. He hadn't so much as breathed a mention about them in nine months or so, they just sat in his nightstand.

"Could be both of us."

The temperature in the car practically went up the way Clay flushed and Annie's smile was so smug it was ridiculous. Yup, she still had it... the ability to make him just a little bit flustered. It was a skill she prided herself on, actually.

"I think it is, actually."

She did and he would be the first one to tell her that she was. He'd add it to the list of things the Agency didn't know about either of them.

His next admission was very quiet, "I haven't even taken them out of the drawer since things ended." For some reason, that he couldn't put his finger on, all of that would be much less fulfilling without Annie being involved.

"Would you have had a reason to take them out of the drawer?" Her tone wasn't in the least judgmental, but she was a little curious to know if he'd had anyone in his life, even the most casual of encounters.

She'd known a little bit about his past and how the handcuffs had played a part, so if he was going to tell her that he'd paid for someone to come over, she wouldn't have been shocked. A little ego-damaged, but not shocked.

Edited 2012-07-25 02:22 (UTC)

"No, I haven't." It was all he was going to say on the matter.

Annie could take a hint when it was given to her and she just nodded once and turned her head back to look out the window, keeping her mouth shut.

Clay drove in silence the remaining distance back to his condo before he spoke again changing his mind about his earlier decision, "I'm sorry, Annie. I shouldn't have snapped like that."

They were married. She wasn't going to run away if he told her he dated other women, which he hadn't.

"There hasn't been anyone else, using handcuffs or otherwise."

"It's okay," she interrupted and then fell silent as he continued.

It shouldn't have shocked her that he'd remained single, but it did a little. Not because she thought he was promiscuous, but because once he'd opened the door to dating, she thought maybe he'd be interested in doing it more. "I see."

Stopped outside the condo, she didn't know what else to say, so she looked at him and waited.

Clay sighed just a little as he took the bag of dinner from Annie before getting out of the car. He wasn't sure where to go from there either.

Once inside he put dinner on the coffee table and settled into the couch, and went for a subject change, "No sleeping through dinner." A lame attempt at humor.

"I make no promises," she told him, reaching for the bag and her french fries before settling back against him. "What a day."

Not that she was complaining, even though he was most comfortable when he was relaxing on the couch; he always had been. After a moment, she even rested her head against his upper chest and sighed herself, feeling a little bit of the tension drain away.

"At least everyone who needs to know does now. We can sleep a little easier and you can sleep late on Sunday."

Then he went about eating his dinner which was easier than he expected with Annie leaning on him like she was.

"That's my current plan," she told him with a smile into the darkened front room. "I kind of missed that, even when I slept in on Sundays at my place. It was never the same without you sneaking out of bed with a kiss to my forehead and a promise to be back before I was awake."

She had fond memories of coffee in bed and his riding gear near the front door, too. "Those were good Sundays."

"And we have plenty of them to look forward to."

Clay loved spending Sundays with Annie. It was the one day when they could just relax and enjoy being together before the week started again. He always thought that was one of the reasons they were so happy when they were happy.

The way he sounded like such a promise that Annie wanted to reach down and pinch her leg to make sure that the whole 'married in Vegas' thing wasn't some kind of surreal dream. An entire married life with Webb was what she'd wanted, complete with relaxing Sundays on the couch and now she had it.

"I'm glad," was what she said, very quietly, before relaxing further into him. She wasn't going to fall asleep in her dinner, though, even without making the promise. She just wanted to get comfortable. "I love you."

Now that she could say it again, she wasn't going to stop. Even if it just sounded weird at times.

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