[FIC] -- Webb's Death
It was funny, she reflected as they drove down the road toward the hospital, that he had been right all along, about so many things. The one that stood out in her mind at the moment, though, was that no one had ever used the words, 'Agent Webb' when talking to her. And when they did, she'd known something was wrong.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As far as parties went, hers wasn't bad. It was small, low-key, even, since she'd opted to resign. Everyone had seen it coming - there had been a betting pool on just when it was going to happen. Annie hadn't told anyone, except Auggie, her exact criteria for quitting, so the fact that he'd had the upper hand and had won the pool hadn't surprised anyone, either. There were no hard feelings, too many people were happy for Annie, and for Director Webb.
When Joan announced, mid-party, that Annie was pregnant, there had been clapping and cheers and she'd blushed. Eating her little blocks of cheese as she stood and accepted her congratulations on both her early retirement and her news, she kept her chatter with Auggie and Jai to low laughs and bright smiles.
No one really noticed when the grim-faced man entered and approached Annie, though Auggie nudged her and she turned to look just as he spoke. "Agent Webb?"
The party's dull roar came to a stop and the roar started in Annie's ears. Forcing a smile, cheese cube halfway to her mouth, she said, "That's me, but not for much longer."
No one smiled and hers faded.
"We need you to come with us. The Director needs you." Annie swore his voice cracked in the pause between 'Director' and 'needs'.
Were it not suddenly so serious, Annie would have made a joke. Anything to get back the playful mood of the last twenty minutes. Catching Jai's eye as she touched Auggie's forearm, she put her cheesecube down and, smoothing her skirt, followed the man into the hall.
"Where are we going?" She asked the question as a second man moved up on her right side and herded her toward the exit.
"Ma'am, I'm not allowed to answer questions, I'm just supposed to drive."
Rather than take her quickly rising anger and frustration out on the two agents who were obviously just doing their job, Annie stepped into the winter afternoon and into the back of the SUV waiting out front. One agent joined her, while the other drove. Belatedly, she remembered she'd forgotten her jacket and upon mentioning it, she was given her new companion's sport coat.
Annie mumbled a quiet thank you and looked out the window. "Can you tell me where we're going?"
"Walter Reed Medical Center, Ma'am."
The world spun sideways and, to steady herself, she placed both hands flat on the leather seat. "What happened? What's going on? Tell me what's going on?"
Unable to control the panic in her voice, she realized too late that they couldn't tell her anything because they didn't know and they wouldn't tell her if they did. Catching the driver's expression in the mirror, she sat back and looked out the window, her fingers going to her wedding ring, nausea rising.
There hadn't been any nausea, which Annie had found amusing. She'd read about women who spent the entire nine months with their heads in a toilet and it seemed like that particular curse had passed her by. Webb had a hard enough time when she left town for a day and a half, she'd had a feeling he wouldn't take kindly to months of her being sick daily.
Telling him had been the second best day of her life. She'd gone at lunch to have it confirmed by the doctors at Langley and then taken the last ten minutes of that hour to tell him. In turn, he'd taken the rest of the day off. It had been a gorgeous October day, the leaves had started turning and falling and they'd parked the car downtown and just walked.
A screech of tires brought her back to the present and she was hustled out of the car. Pulling off the jacket, she thrust it at the agent who had loaned it to her and hurried into the hospital. There were people already there, people who recognized her immediately.
"This way."
Annie was grateful that they didn't ask about paperwork, about billing or any of the other useless things hospitals usually harped on. Not then. In the Emergency room, the doctor pulled her aside. "He had a massive heart attack. It doesn't look good. You can go in, but be gentle."
"Is he?" Annie's voice was a lot stronger than she felt and the doctor shook his head. Annie walked past him, ignoring everyone else standing outside Webb's room.
"Hey." Her walk slowed and she pulled up the chair in the room. "Were you trying to upstage my party?" His smile was weak, but it was there and Annie felt her heart seize up. The tears that welled in her eyes threatened to spill over, but she squeezed his hand to stop it from happening. "You scared me."
When he blinked, his eyes stayed closed for much longer than she liked, but when he opened them, he squeezed her hand back. "Love you."
"Oh, honey. Love you, too. But hey, now there's nothing to stress about and if you want, you can retire and we can just be-" His eyes closed for too long again and she panicked, her words coming faster. "We can just be snobby society people."
Standing, she moved closer, leaning over so she could rest her head against his. Desperately afraid if he went to sleep he wouldn't wake up, she kept talking. "And we're going to have a baby and if you're not here, I might just call her Charlotte-" She felt him laugh, which was really just a huff of air and she squeezed his hand again, tears starting even though she truly didn't want to cry. "I love you."
There was a tight squeeze to her hand before it went limp and she lifted her head to look at him, her eyes wide. When the monitor beeped, the flurry of activity began. She didn't remember being pulled back out of the room, she didn't remember being sheltered from what was going on, she didn't remember any of it.
She remembered the darkness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When she woke, she was in a hospital room, still dressed in her work clothes, but she wasn't alone. Danielle was there, holding her hand. Sitting up with a start, Annie swung her legs over, dizzy with moving too fast.
"Wait, hold on," her sister said, trying to stop her from getting up.
"Where is he? What happened? Where is he?" Annie was demanding, but the look on her sister's face told her everything. Breaking down, she sobbed, holding Danielle around the neck.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The funeral took place on a cold, December morning. Everyone was there, including the President. Annie, naturally, had morning sickness.
After the wake, she went home and stood in the foyer of their house, looking around at everything, the sorrow nearly crushing her. It was beyond sadness, beyond anger. Anger at both him and herself. She should have asked him to quit. She'd known he would have done it instantly, he'd told her so. In essence, she was to blame for her husband's death.
Walking slowly upstairs, her right mind rationalized it better: he'd actually liked his job, he could have quit if he'd wanted to, he'd done a lot of good as Director...
She lay down on the bed and cried. Annie knew a lot of things and one of them was that Webb, above all, was a God and Country kind of man. She had always been the lucky one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As far as parties went, hers wasn't bad. It was small, low-key, even, since she'd opted to resign. Everyone had seen it coming - there had been a betting pool on just when it was going to happen. Annie hadn't told anyone, except Auggie, her exact criteria for quitting, so the fact that he'd had the upper hand and had won the pool hadn't surprised anyone, either. There were no hard feelings, too many people were happy for Annie, and for Director Webb.
When Joan announced, mid-party, that Annie was pregnant, there had been clapping and cheers and she'd blushed. Eating her little blocks of cheese as she stood and accepted her congratulations on both her early retirement and her news, she kept her chatter with Auggie and Jai to low laughs and bright smiles.
No one really noticed when the grim-faced man entered and approached Annie, though Auggie nudged her and she turned to look just as he spoke. "Agent Webb?"
The party's dull roar came to a stop and the roar started in Annie's ears. Forcing a smile, cheese cube halfway to her mouth, she said, "That's me, but not for much longer."
No one smiled and hers faded.
"We need you to come with us. The Director needs you." Annie swore his voice cracked in the pause between 'Director' and 'needs'.
Were it not suddenly so serious, Annie would have made a joke. Anything to get back the playful mood of the last twenty minutes. Catching Jai's eye as she touched Auggie's forearm, she put her cheesecube down and, smoothing her skirt, followed the man into the hall.
"Where are we going?" She asked the question as a second man moved up on her right side and herded her toward the exit.
"Ma'am, I'm not allowed to answer questions, I'm just supposed to drive."
Rather than take her quickly rising anger and frustration out on the two agents who were obviously just doing their job, Annie stepped into the winter afternoon and into the back of the SUV waiting out front. One agent joined her, while the other drove. Belatedly, she remembered she'd forgotten her jacket and upon mentioning it, she was given her new companion's sport coat.
Annie mumbled a quiet thank you and looked out the window. "Can you tell me where we're going?"
"Walter Reed Medical Center, Ma'am."
The world spun sideways and, to steady herself, she placed both hands flat on the leather seat. "What happened? What's going on? Tell me what's going on?"
Unable to control the panic in her voice, she realized too late that they couldn't tell her anything because they didn't know and they wouldn't tell her if they did. Catching the driver's expression in the mirror, she sat back and looked out the window, her fingers going to her wedding ring, nausea rising.
There hadn't been any nausea, which Annie had found amusing. She'd read about women who spent the entire nine months with their heads in a toilet and it seemed like that particular curse had passed her by. Webb had a hard enough time when she left town for a day and a half, she'd had a feeling he wouldn't take kindly to months of her being sick daily.
Telling him had been the second best day of her life. She'd gone at lunch to have it confirmed by the doctors at Langley and then taken the last ten minutes of that hour to tell him. In turn, he'd taken the rest of the day off. It had been a gorgeous October day, the leaves had started turning and falling and they'd parked the car downtown and just walked.
A screech of tires brought her back to the present and she was hustled out of the car. Pulling off the jacket, she thrust it at the agent who had loaned it to her and hurried into the hospital. There were people already there, people who recognized her immediately.
"This way."
Annie was grateful that they didn't ask about paperwork, about billing or any of the other useless things hospitals usually harped on. Not then. In the Emergency room, the doctor pulled her aside. "He had a massive heart attack. It doesn't look good. You can go in, but be gentle."
"Is he?" Annie's voice was a lot stronger than she felt and the doctor shook his head. Annie walked past him, ignoring everyone else standing outside Webb's room.
"Hey." Her walk slowed and she pulled up the chair in the room. "Were you trying to upstage my party?" His smile was weak, but it was there and Annie felt her heart seize up. The tears that welled in her eyes threatened to spill over, but she squeezed his hand to stop it from happening. "You scared me."
When he blinked, his eyes stayed closed for much longer than she liked, but when he opened them, he squeezed her hand back. "Love you."
"Oh, honey. Love you, too. But hey, now there's nothing to stress about and if you want, you can retire and we can just be-" His eyes closed for too long again and she panicked, her words coming faster. "We can just be snobby society people."
Standing, she moved closer, leaning over so she could rest her head against his. Desperately afraid if he went to sleep he wouldn't wake up, she kept talking. "And we're going to have a baby and if you're not here, I might just call her Charlotte-" She felt him laugh, which was really just a huff of air and she squeezed his hand again, tears starting even though she truly didn't want to cry. "I love you."
There was a tight squeeze to her hand before it went limp and she lifted her head to look at him, her eyes wide. When the monitor beeped, the flurry of activity began. She didn't remember being pulled back out of the room, she didn't remember being sheltered from what was going on, she didn't remember any of it.
She remembered the darkness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When she woke, she was in a hospital room, still dressed in her work clothes, but she wasn't alone. Danielle was there, holding her hand. Sitting up with a start, Annie swung her legs over, dizzy with moving too fast.
"Wait, hold on," her sister said, trying to stop her from getting up.
"Where is he? What happened? Where is he?" Annie was demanding, but the look on her sister's face told her everything. Breaking down, she sobbed, holding Danielle around the neck.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The funeral took place on a cold, December morning. Everyone was there, including the President. Annie, naturally, had morning sickness.
After the wake, she went home and stood in the foyer of their house, looking around at everything, the sorrow nearly crushing her. It was beyond sadness, beyond anger. Anger at both him and herself. She should have asked him to quit. She'd known he would have done it instantly, he'd told her so. In essence, she was to blame for her husband's death.
Walking slowly upstairs, her right mind rationalized it better: he'd actually liked his job, he could have quit if he'd wanted to, he'd done a lot of good as Director...
She lay down on the bed and cried. Annie knew a lot of things and one of them was that Webb, above all, was a God and Country kind of man. She had always been the lucky one.