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

Current Mood: nauseated
Current Location: Vegas

Entry tags:

[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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"None of this is your fault, Annie."

He wanted to hug her but getting home was more important at this point. Clay was proud of himself as he obeyed most of the traffic laws between the diner and his condo.

"I know." She knew that. She knew it before he said it but it didn't stop the tightening in her chest at the knowledge that-- "I forgot my umbrella."

Looking over at him, she tried again. "Danielle gave me an umbrella and I forgot it or I'd have been in Jai's car with him."

Clay was very happy that he was stopped at a red light, the last one before his driveway. That fact complicated a lot. Annie survived because she forgot her umbrella. In the back of his mind he wondered if they were after Annie, Jai, or both.

"Remind me to thank her." Clay couldn't lose Annie now. Not after everything else.

Annie could see the expression on his face and it only caused her lip to quiver again. "She won't ever know, though, will she? She'll never know that Jai died because his car actually exploded and I was supposed to be in it."

Her hysteria was rising as he pulled into the driveway.

"No, she won't. No one, beyond those directly involved with the incident'll know. I'm sure someone will tell his father."

With that, Clay got out of the car and opened Annie's door, "Let's go inside."

As she stepped out, she took his arm, already feeling the stiffness set in. Once upright, she felt the glass in her hair shake loose and she turned, distressed, to the car.

One hand on her head, she said, "I'm sorry. I'm sure there's glass in your car now." She was afraid she'd cut the leather.

"I'll get it cleaned out."

The condition of his car seats was the last thing on his mind. All of that could be replaced, Annie was more important. Clay took her hand and helped her into the condo.

"Let's make sure all the glass is out of your hair."

"I feel like I'm going to cry again, I don't-- I can't--" She took two steps and then ran for the guest bathroom, throwing it open and immediately got sick into the toilet.

She knew there was enough glass in her hair that it'd have to be combed completely before she even thought about getting into a shower and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry. Forgoing the ball, she rested her arms on the toilet seat and sobbed.

When Clay realized what was going to happen, he went to the kitchen and got her some water. Then a quick trip into his bathroom and he retrieved her comb and some paper to catch the glass pieces. When he returned to the bathroom he flushed the toilet, handed Annie the water, and sat on the floor against the wall.

He didn't even care about his suit.

"Come on Annie, sit back. I'll take care of your hair."

Clay'd been in his own share of explosions and knew just how careful one had to be when getting pieces of glass, concrete or other building materials out of your own or someone else's hair.

"I'm sorry," she said dully as she sat back like he'd instructed. Letting him comb her hair out was something she wasn't quite prepared to do - it felt like something she should do for herself - but she wasn't strong enough to argue.

Instead, she sat there while he combed through the dust and glass and didn't make a sound, even when it hurt. When it was over, she turned her head to the side, caught his eye and said a quiet, "Thanks."

She didn't feel any better, and though the glass was gone, she knew she didn't look any better. "I should probably take a shower."

Clay just didn't want things to get worse if the glass decided to do something like cut her scalp. He nodded his response to her thanks.

"You can shower if you want, or whatever else you need to do. I'm staying here the rest of the day."

He wanted her to know that he'd be around just for her if she needed him to be.

Annie could feel the places on her head where the glass had already done it's damage and she wanted to wash out the little bits before it got worse. "I'll be upstairs for a little bit."

Using the counter to help her stand, she gave him a wobbly smile and then did as she said and went upstairs. She undressed slowly, making no noise lest she draw Clay upstairs, too. Once that was done, she got into the shower, making the water as hot as possible, then just stood there.

When she started to cry, she made it as quiet as possible so that he wouldn't hear her and she stood there with her hands over her face, sobbing, for a good five minutes before she got herself under control. Then she washed her hair carefully, hissing when the soap touched the tender spots and finally, she washed her body.

She knew she'd be sore for days, but it didn't matter. Jai was gone; one of her best friends, her protector... just gone. Out of the shower, she took pain medication since she was going to be home with Clay, then got dressed in her cotton pants and a t-shirt and laid on the bed. Another ten minutes passed before she summoned the energy to go downstairs.

While Annie was in the shower, Clay did go upstairs to change out of his suit and add it to the pile of dry cleaning that needed to go in the morning. He'd have to point out the stains. It wasn't something his cleaner hadn't dealt with before.

Once that was done he'd made another pot of coffee and sat on the couch in the living room doing his best not to watch the news coverage of the explosion. When Annie returned downstairs he smiled softly, "I made some more coffee. Thought it might help."

"I just took a couple of pain killers, Clay. Coffee--" She shook her head. "I need something a little stronger than that."

She sank down on the couch next to him, but didn't lay against him. Not yet. Instead, she pulled her legs up onto the couch and wrapped her arms around one of them. Resting her forehead on it, she winced and then tilted it to the side that wasn't injured and gave him a sad smile.

"Drinking and pain killers probably isn't the best idea." If she pushed the issue, he'd give her something but right now he wasn't going to volunteer.

"I'm so sorry he's gone, Annie. No matter what I thought, he was a good agent and he cared about you."

He was also sorry that she had to lose a friend this early in her career, but he was keeping that to himself.

"It's probably not, no, but I really don't care."

She twisted her mouth as she fought to control the tears that welled up in her eyes when he continued. Reaching up, she propped her head on her hand and looked over at him. "I loved him. Not like I love you, I wasn't in love with him, but I loved him. He's the one that helped me after we broke up. He always gave me what I needed and he didn't ask for anything in return."

When she choked up, she dropped her head again and shook it, looking at her knees. "He more than cared about me, Clay, he watched out for me, he was just always there. And now he's just gone. Someone blew him up. And they'd have blown me up."

Her throat closed up and the tears came.

"I'm sorry you lost that. It's important."

That's when he gently put his hand on her shoulder. If she wanted to push him away she could, if she wanted to lean on him she could do that too. Clay wasn't sure how Annie dealt with a loss like this so it was a learning experience.

"What scares me is that I don't know if they were just after Jai."

Annie didn't push or lean, she just let the comfort happen. Of all people, she knew that Clay knew what it was like. He'd been around longer than most of her colleagues, so she could believe him when he told her things about what that kind of loss meant.

But when he expressed his own fears, she lifted her head to look at him. "What?"

"Whoever planted it waited until he got away from Langley to meet you. So in the back of my mind I wonder, were they after him, you, or both of you."

If they could get to their agents at home, his mode of operation turned into trust no one.

"Nobody knew we were meeting. He left a note on my desk..." She trailed off with a shrug that made her shoulders ache. "Hell, until he walked into the restaurant, even I didn't know that's who I was meeting."

"Well at least that'll put my mind to rest."

That was something. Whoever it was was not after his wife.

"I wish I could do something other than tell you how sorry I am."

"I don't want to scare you. I'm sorry if I did scare you," Annie amended, aware that he'd probably been terrified when he'd been notified at work. "Right now, there's nothing you can do except give me that drink."

Her voice was still watery and shaky, but she wasn't going to give up on the opportunity to black out and just forget the day.

"It's okay. When I saw you sitting there everything was fine. For the most part." Then he smiled a little bit, "After everything we did in Vegas, I'd hate to miss out on what's coming."

Against his better judgement he got Annie a drink and one for himself. A double shot of scotch. Hers was cheaper than his.

"And just so you know", he said as he settled back on the couch, "I will always look out for you."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject