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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"You can finish it."

He hoped with both drinks gone, she'd be less likely to have more.

"And as much as I hate to say this, a lot of that is Henry's own fault but I hope at least they'd let him see it."

With his blessing Annie tilted the glass back, set it down, then lay down across his lap and put her head on the other end of the couch.

"He's an asshole, but." She didn't want to finish the sentence. "I just..."

She didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"But Jai was still his son."

Just because his father was a traitor didn't mean he was. In fact, Clay suspected that Jai had a much higher price for secrets than Henry.

"Yeah."

Annie lay there and stared into the living room, wishing that it weren't two o'clock in the afternoon, wishing that she could just forget everything, wishing that she could just curl up and go to sleep.

The first two weren't options, but the third... she rolled over to face him, wincing. "I hurt. My head hurts, my ears are ringing and my body aches."

"Explosions can do that. I was in one about 10 years ago in Chechnya, doing something I thought was noble. I think my ears rang for three days. At least my friend appreciated his Christmas Gift."

Clay understood where she was coming from completely.

"Thought was noble? It wasn't noble?" She had her eyes closed, and her hand rested on his stomach just under his vest, but she still gave him a small smile. "What was the gift?"

"I brought his brother home from a war zone. It was noble, he just didn't stay around as long as I would have liked."

Clay draped his arm around Annie so she could get comfortable. He was fully prepared to be a pillow.

He currently was a pillow as her head and body were draped over his lap and her head was on the edge of the couch. She lay there, listening to the sounds that she could outside and the ringing in her ears.

"You're such a good man."

"I'm glad you think so."

Annie was the one person he wanted to think he was a good man. There were so many things he'd done over the years that was in direct contradiction to that.

"Just try to get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

"I've always thought so." She kept her eyes closed and the smile on her face, but it turned sad. "I'm not really that tired, am I?"

She was actually exhausted and she knew it. But she didn't want to give in easily; as usual, she was fighting everything.

"It's been a very long morning."

Clay assumed a very long morning to begin a very long week. There was going to be a memorial service, the star ceremony, and who knows what else. Through it all Annie was going to have to pretend Jai's death didn't bother her. It was going to be extremely difficult.

"If you need to take a nap, go right ahead. There won't be any judgement from me."

"I love you."

After that, she didn't say anything else, she just let the alcohol and pain killers do their job and she let herself fall asleep on her suit-clad husband. Even though she knew she was safe at home with someone who loved her back, it didn't stop the nightmares from coming.

Jai talking to her, watching him walk to the car, feeling the blast and the heat and everything else happening in very slow motion. Over and over again, it replayed in her mind until she finally woke up with a start.

Annie waking up so quickly surprised Webb, "Annie? You're home. Safe."

He turned off whatever afternoon television he was watching to pay attention to his wife.

"Mmkay. I know. I'm fine. I just..." She struggled to sit up, bumping him accidentally. "Sorry. I need a glass of water."

Managing to stand, now actually drunk, she moved herself into the kitchen and poured herself a glass from the sink.

Clay kept an eye on Annie as she made her way to the kitchen to get her glass of water, but didn't get up. He would if she needed his help, but right now giving her some space might be the best idea.

As he sat there he hoped this wouldn't change Annie's outlook on what they do. Even though what they do can't be revealed to the public, it's still important and still necessary despite the danger.

In the kitchen, she finished the first glass, then poured a second before moving to sit on a dining room chair. She did want to be alone, but not because she was feeling particularly ill. It was more because she was feeling melancholy.

Everything was her fault. If she hadn't left to meet Jai, maybe he wouldn't have gone and he'd be alive. Maybe something else would have saved him. All she could think about was the way they'd ended things and how much he'd still wanted to be her friend and how much he'd cared.

Putting her head down on the table, she closed her eyes.

Clay watched Annie move from the kitchen to the dining room. She seemed okay for now, sad sure, maybe a little drunk, but generally okay. He chose to put one of his favorite pieces of music on the stereo quietly. It was loud enough only so that the condo wasn't completely silent.

Clay put his head back and closed his eyes. His tears came three or four minutes later when the realization of how close he came to loosing Annie again and for good hit him. He figured these were the first of many times he was going to have to deal with all of it, now that they were married.

It was about that time that Annie stood to put her glass back on the counter and make her way back into the living room and she was struck by the way Clay was sitting. He looked so...

She wasn't sure, but it scared her. It scared her that she'd done that to him and the tears came back to her eyes as well.

Crossing the room as quietly as she could, she slid onto the couch next to him again, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. The only thing she could say was a quietly whispered, "I'm sorry."

He didn't say anything for a while, and instead just put his arms around Annie as best he could from his current position. Once he calmed down a bit he spoke again, his voice was still quiet.

"None of this is your fault. It really just hit me that you could have been in there with him." Clay took a deep breath, "But you weren't. You were lucky and you're here."

He just hoped that her luck was something she'd carry through her whole career. He somehow managed to do it, so there was hope.

"I'm sorry," she said again because he wasn't wrong. She could have been there with him and she almost had been. She'd almost died and when she started thinking about it again, it really started to freak her out.

Hugging him tighter, she lifted her chin and kissed his jaw. "I didn't mean to scare you and I'll try not to do it again." Another kiss, this one closer to his mouth. "For at least a week."

The smile she gave him was a ghost of her normal smile given the tears in her eyes and the ache on her face, but she tried. And then she kissed him for real. It was a little desperate, but seeing him cry had really scared her and the rest of the day had just been too much for her. She couldn't handle not touching him and kissing him anymore.

Clay huffed out a chuckle, "At least a week. I'm going to have to buy stock in antacids." It was a joke, a lame joke but a joke just the same.

It took him a minute to realize what was going on, but when he did, he returned Annie's kiss. Everything was going to be okay.

He'd told her once that adrenaline induced sex wasn't a very good idea, so she had a feeling that he'd probably frown particularly highly on that plus alcohol, but she didn't care. He could stop her if he wanted, but she wasn't going to stop herself.

There, on the couch, she did her best to undo just his trousers. The rest of his suit she left intact, but her own cotton pants went by the wayside in a hurry. Then she kissed him again to encourage him to action, simply because she didn't want him to tell her to stop.

Adrenaline induced sex wasn't an issue at all. Adrenaline induced relationships were. He and Annie however, were well past that point. Annie did almost die, and he was willing to do whatever she needed to do to make her feel better.

There wasn't any question at all. He was continuing.

Later, Annie might feel a little guilty for making love to Clay on the couch while he was still dressed in his suit, but it was everything she loved about him - the shallow parts - all wrapped up in one neat little package that she could admire and touch as she rode him slowly.

Every kiss, every moan, every soft sigh she gave him was punctuated by her hands curled in the jacket at his shoulder; eventually she slid her hands under it and she used his shoulders to steady herself as she moved over him.

"I love you," she gasped quietly into his ear, her thighs tightening around his hips. "I'm sorry for scaring you, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for us, months ago. I'm sorry I never said I was sorry, Clay. I never wanted us - this - to end."

She didn't mean to, but by the time she came, she was crying against his shoulder, her lips kissing the soft spot under his ear, still murmuring how much she loved him.

Clay just let Annie do what she needed. That's not to say he didn't participate, because he certainly did. He made sure that he got do do everything he knew Annie loved and by the time they were done, the last thing he cared about was his suit.

It even took him a full thirty seconds to realize Annie was crying. "I love you too, Annie." Then he put his arms around her and did his best to help her calm down.

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