Alternate S5 Fic Part I
So at the end of Covert Affairs S4 I started writing this story I never finished (and probably never will). I have the beginning and the end and that’s it Think of this as an imagination exercise: I give you the beginning and you let your mind wander.
In this version, Annie came back to the CIA after killing Wilcox.
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Vincent Rossabi took out his gun and motioned his men to bring down the door. They found themselves in front of a garage lot, taken there by the latest GPS data, as gathered by their IT men. These past few weeks have been blotched with attacks, the type of attacks only a hacker mastermind could perform. The impenetrable, firewall protected FBI database had been compromised. This was no joke; someone or some group had been collecting valuable intel on various ops; FBI assets were being killed, missions sabotaged.
In less than 30 seconds, FBI’s most trained agents, led by Rossabi, found themselves in the small garage that appeared to be empty. As Vincent barked out orders to check the perimeters, from behind the car, a blonde head was slowly making appearance. Annie Walker herself was in shooting position, alarmed by all the jangle.
As she heard the agent’s familiar voice, she decided to reveal herself.
“Now this is gonna get me those 15 minutes of fame”, Rossabi quipped, moving toward the Corvette.
He leaned on the door of the car, eyeing Annie. “How’s this for a headline? <<FBI Agent proved the existence of ghosts>>”.
Much to his surprise, he wasn’t that taken aback by the news that she’s alive. Annie Walker was a vortex of lies, deception and headaches, and he wasn’t gonna get sucked into that again.
Annie listed to his speech, thankful that she managed to collect all data, fake passports and whatnot she previously hid in the Corvette during darker times, as the FBI men were investigating the surroundings.
“Talk”, Rossabi ordered. “Vincent…”, she pleaded. “No. Talk. Now. And don’t give me fables. I’ve outgrown them.”
Annie took a few steps, until she was closer to him. She leaned a bit to his right as she softly whispered in his ear “I killed Henry Wilcox”.
*** Two tall coffees were resting on one of the small tables of a cheap diner. Rossabi reached for his, while reading a text message he had just received. He took a sip, put the coffee back down and faced Annie again.
He felt good knowing that Wilcox is dead, but he wasn’t really sure he should trust Annie Walker, even a bit. Rossabi thought for a second if she had anything to do with his investigation but there’s been so many lose ends lately that her story about being in the garage – collecting things she’d left there – had legs.
"Who's August Anderson?" he asked. As she said nothing, he went on. "Ran the license plates of the Vette you were hovering around. Car came up registered on this name. Contact number from Glencoe, Illinois”. He paused, giving her the opportunity to answer his question. Since she was still dead silent, he went on. “I could just call and ask".
"He’s….”, Annie took a moment, wishing she’d know how the answer to this question. „He’s a friend. It was his car".
"Was?"
"He gave it to me as a gift". She tried to make it as inconspicuous as possible. Neither of them said anything for a while. Annie thought she’d played her cards well, it was his turn.
“So what were you doing in the garage lot?”
“You don’t really get to ask questions here. Or you can ask, but don’t expect an answer” Vincent answered, very matter-of-factly.
Normally, she wouldn’t care about an FBI investigation, but the course of events had been weird and she was feeling this might be interesting for the Agency as well. She tried to gain his trust by telling him all about Wilcox and her fake death, but apparently he needed more.
“Look, Vincent…behind these jobs…we’re people. You and I. We have families, people we care about – people we love. I’ve hurt those people and destroyed their trust to do this. So you must know by now that I’d do anything to get the job done.
“Don’t tell me a sob story, I’m not gonna feel bad for you.”
“I don’t want you to feel bad for me, I want you to trust me, as little as you can. We can help you with the investigation. Other people don’t have to know.”
He shook his head and started talking, somewhat not believing he was actually going to tell her all of this.
“Someone keeps attacking the FBI database. We’ve been at it for weeks, trying to put together little pieces of the puzzle. This morning, there’s been a new attack and I’ll let you guess from here on”.
Annie took a moment for all to sink in. “It’s led you to the garage. How?”.
“You’re pretty sharp for a ghost. Whoever’s doing this keep pinging off on IPs. The guy’s good, we have our best guys working on it but all we get are false leads”.
She reached for his hand. It was a friendly gesture she’s never done with him before. “Let us help. Let ME help.”
***
It was 7:42 A.M. and agent Rossabi was sitting in the DCS office next to Annie Walker. He requested the meeting to be off book, so the partaking parties had to do this before office hours. Vincent still couldn’t believe he was going to trust Annie Walker, but as another FBI mission had been sabotaged the night before, it was clear to him that he needed help.
Joan listened to the details attentively, half thinking that such a good hacker would be a great asset for the Agency. She picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number. As there was no answer, she opened the laptop and after a few clicks she found what she needed. Having IDs necessary to enter the premises of the Agency had its perks; Joan could know in a flash whether her operatives were in the building or not. She picked up the phone again and called another number.
“Could you tell Mr Anderson to come up to my office, please? Thank you”, Joan said politely, as she hung up the phone.
As soon as she put the receiver down, the phone rang.
“30 minutes?” Joan asked whoever was on the other end of the line.
Rossabi figured out what the conversation was about. “I have to be…somewhere else in half an hour”.
Joan understood. ”Just tell him to come up now, as he is. Yes”.
Four minutes later, a knock on Joan’s office door announced Auggie’s arrival. He walked in with the precision of someone who has painted his own version of the office, memorizing the exact path, counting two straight steps, a right turn, than three more steps.
“Joan”, Auggie called her name with the tone of a soldier waiting for orders, while the aftermath of the adrenaline rush caused by intense workout was still traceable in his voice. “It’s not even 8 A.M. and I’m already dripping in your office. This must be interesting”, he smiled as he crossed his hands, patiently waiting for the explanation.
His hair was still damp, little bits of pieces of sweat dripping were making tiny spots on his tan t-shirt. Annie smiled wryly, looking down. She made a mental image of Auggie navigating the Agency’s corridors from the gym to Joan’s office in workout gear that oh, so perfectly hugged his Special Ops body in all the right places and felt bad for a second for the husbands of the women that crossed his path.
“Auggie, Annie’s here with agent Rossabi. We need a word and since you were here…”, Joan invited him for the talk.
“Agent Rossabi! Long time, no see”, Auggie smiled, a bit more intrigued by this whole scenario, finding his way to the window. “Well, at least for me”. He chuckled, more for himself than his under appreciative audience.
Vincent measured him head to toe and smirked. He should’ve trust his instincts more.
“Still going around morgues barefoot?”, the agent asked.
Auggie looked right in the direction of his interrogator, almost making eye-contact for a second or two, which caused Rossabi to freak-out a bit. Was this guy blind or not?
“Only on Thursdays”. Auggie answered, feeling for the window and leaning against it. He crossed his arms again, his whole body ready to absorb every piece of information his eyes couldn’t. “So what’s this all about?”
“Please, take a seat. There’s an empty chair at your 1 o’clock”, Joan invited him, eyeing the chair.
“I think I’d rather soak the carpet”
“Someone hacked into the FBI database”, Annie went straight to the climax, knowing she’ll get his interest.
“Reaaaaalllly?” Now he was even more intrigued.
Rossabi fussed in his chair, knitting his eyebrows. The FBI database was now vulnerable to cyber terrorism attacks and he was having a very hard time acknowledging that.
“Whoever is doing this is very good. Our software engineers powered through these last few weeks but all they got was loose ends. We managed to counterstrike the consequences of lost info, but we still haven’t found the guy. Or group”. The agent tried to downplay the whole turmoil the hacks have caused the Bureau and save a bit of reputation.
