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

[freshoffthefarm]

[From here, as requested by fakesIt 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

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[freshoffthefarm]

Having been given her assignment, Annie had left work and gone back to the guest house to pack what she could before she had to leave for the airport. Hopefully, it wasn't going to be that long of an op and she knew she was forgetting--

"Dammit." Reaching for her phone, she dialed Clay's office number. It had been months since she'd gone up to personally say goodbye that she hadn't thought to do it when she left the Agency for the day and she didn't think anyone would have given him the heads up for her.

[fakes_death]

Clay answered his desk phone very casually when he realized what number was calling him, Annie's cell phone. "Hey. Everything okay?"

He hadn't been told she had an assignment, or that she left to go to the airport.

[freshoffthefarm]

"Yeah, everything's fine," she said, trying to sound as casual as he did. "I'm gonna miss dinner tonight, though. I'm kinda packing...?"

She left it as a question so that he'd know what she was doing and she wasn't leaving too many clues on an unsecured line. In order to leave an even bigger clue, she added, "I'm at the guest house."

[fakes_death]

"Oh," and she didn't tell him goodbye. It was still not in her regular pre-mission routine, that had to be why she forgot, "Just...be careful."

It was his usual warning before she left the country.

[freshoffthefarm]

After it was all said and done, as she sat there on the back of the ambulance while the medics patched up her head, Annie tried to block out all the noise -- before she realized that it was just the ringing in her ears.

The headache was going to be there for a while and though she tried to fight off a trip to the hospital, the medic she was fighting with wasn't listening to her. She had a feeling that someone had put a call in to Clay and she was waiting for him to arrive. Maybe then she could just go home.

"I'm fine," she said for the ninth time, swatting at the man's hand as he dabbed at her still bleeding forehead tenderly. She wasn't, but she wasn't going to have that debate anymore. "Stop."

As much as she'd love to get up and walk away, she just wasn't steady enough yet.

[fakes_death]

Clay heard almost as soon as the ambulance arrived on the scene, and he made a beeline for the diner in his Aston Martin. He was standing just beyond the police tape arguing with some law enforcement agent or other. Eventually, the attending CIA agent in charge realized who he was and let him through. He spotted Annie in seconds trying her best to keep the EMT away from her and had a quick flashback to the USS Seahawk.

"Annie, you need to let the medical professionals help."

[freshoffthefarm]

The second she heard his voice, she pushed away once more and turned toward him. "Clay."

Immediately, and to her horror, she felt the tears well up in her eyes. She still couldn't stand all on her own, but she tried to step down a little as she reached for him and the medic helped steady her. Annie didn't push him away, but she wrapped her arms around Clay as soon as he was close enough.

Covered in glass, still a little bloody around the head and hands, clothing ripped, Annie hugged him as tightly as she could. In a whisper, she said, "He's gone. Jai's gone."

[fakes_death]

Clay hugged Annie back just as tightly and when he spoke, his voice was full of sincerity, "I'm so sorry, Annie."

Despite his feelings toward Jai, he was a good friend to Annie. He'd been the one that got her out of Belarus and any other number of situations that Webb couldn't have. For that, he'd be forever thankful.

"We'll get whoever did this."