Look out for the <>!

I woke up the next morning dripping in sweat and my arm screaming in pain. I pried my eyes open in panic as a nightmare still having its hold on me. I was no stranger to nightmares, but I hadn't had one that vivid in far too long.

I laid in bed as I tried to control my breathing. I was convinced that the stress was getting to me. I wiped my forehead and checked the time. It was too early to start work but to late to go back to sleep. So instead of wasting any more time in bed, I rolled out of bed to go for a run.

Within a few minutes, I was stepping out of the hotel front doors. The cold humid air wrapped around my face like a ghost of a hug. With a smile as I looked at the sun barely kissing the horizon I started down the road at a steady speed.

Within a short 2o minutes, I was walking back into the hotel sweaty and hot from the run I just partook in. I opened the front doors to the hotel and looked behind myself as I heard a muffler bang.

I didn't take more then two steps forward until I felt myself make impact with a solid item. I heard a grunt and I turned to see a man in front of me dropped his papers on the ground. They scattered like snow on a winter day and he swore lightly.

I frowned at myself. Why did I have to be so klutzy? "Oh I'm sorry," I said and looked down at all the papers.

"No it's ok really, it was my fault," he said in a frantic tone, not looking at me. I reached down to help but he replied, "you really don't need to do that."

However, I refused to listen. This was my fault and I was going to help. I handed him a paper in my hand.

He took it then grabbed a hold of my wrist and sternly said, "I don't need your help." For a split second his brown eyes met mind then with papers in hand, he ran off out of the hotel.

I frowned at the back end of the stubby man. I guess that Mr. Grouchy pants woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I looked down at the floor seeing that he forgot one paper. I picked it up and said, "Sir?" as I looked around. But he was already gone.

I shrugged as turned the paper over and looked at it, expecting to see nothing important. My eyes widened as I read it. It was stamped across the top of it was block red letters MIA. Below the letters was my name and a list of previous missions.

My air was knocked from me as my heart pounded in my chest. I looked around nervously, suddenly I felt like everyone in the lobby was looking at me. Our covers had been blown. I had to get Toby out of here. MIA was on to us.

I ran up to Toby's room and pounded on the door. He didn't answer and I was starting to panic. My mind assumed the worse and tears welled in my eyes. They got to him first and now they were going to get me. "Toby, open the door!" I yelled franticly.

Within a second, the door opened to reveal Toby staring calmly at me as if nothing was wrong. "Were you planning to breaking down the door?" he asked with a smirk, amusement danced in his eyes.

If only he knew what was happening. He wouldn't be so calm about it. But for now he was safe and that was a small victory. MIA hadn't gotten to him yet. I hugged him tightly, breathing him in. "I thought something happened to you," I said after a minute, with my face buried in his shoulder.

He chuckled lightly as he hugged me back. "No, I'm fine. Why would you think that?" he asked as he pulled me out of the embrace. Concern filled his eyes for a second as he looked at me.

I looked at the empty hall and knew it wasn't safe to stay out here. I pushed him and myself into the room and locked the door behind us. I didn't care what B26 said or if Toby would steal my thunder. He had to know. I had to protect him. If they knew about me, they had to know about him. He had to be ready. "Because I found this," I said and showed him a MIA paper.

He took the paper and looked over it carefully. For a second I could see worry wash over his face but it quickly disseminated. "Where did you find this?" he asked.

"I ran into a guy with papers and this was one he left behind."

He finally shrugged as he placed the paper face down on the bed. "Well what is it? MIA? Never heard of it," he said coolly as if the paper meant nothing.

I shook my head. He didn't get it. He didn't understand. MIA was dangerous. If I was looking into them, they would go after them. I had to tell him. So I did, I told him about MIA, at least what I knew. However,  I didn't tell him about Raffaele and B26. I knew that was better left as a secret for now at least.

After I was finished with talking, Toby frowned. He looked at the wall as if trying to find the right words to say then finally said, "Well, um... that's... Interesting... are you sure it's real?"

I stood up from the bed that I was sitting at and paced the room. I felt like screaming at him. I wanted to know a fit. This was important but he was brushing it off like it was nothing. Couldn't he see how scared I was? These people knew me. They were watching me. I was terrified, but he didn't seem to notice. This wasn't normal to have this information laying around. "Toby, I found this paper! I know that this is real."

He stood up and held me tightly. "There there... everything is ok," he hushed as if I was a child throwing a fit. He saw me as a child, after all that I have done, all that I'm capable, he was just like everyone else in my department. He didn't believe me. He thought I was crazy.

I shook my head as I pushed away from him. Nothing was ok about this.

Toby pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. He sighed then said, "we have to go to base."

And just like that, the subject had been changed. He was brushing me off. I was fuming and hurt. I wanted to yell and make myself heard. But I knew this would only go so far. "Fine."

We didn't talk at all on the ride to the CIA base. I could feel the tension in the air between us as we sat in the taxi. With anger taking hold of me, I couldn't even look at him. How could I take him seriously if he didn't take me seriously especially when I had the facts to back me up?

As I walked into the base a familiar voice called out to me. My anger melted slightly as I looked to see Auggie sitting in a chair, waiting for us. I smiled at him widely. At least I didn't have to solely deal with Toby alone. "Auggie!" I said as I ran up to him. Thank goodness his was here. 

He smiled at me brightly, his eyes twinkled with hope, and for a moment, I forgot about the fight or MIA. His smile lightened my mood almost instantly. "Hey. It's great to see you too," he said. He always had the talent of that. He always made my mood better.

Toby frowned at Auggie briefly then muttered a "Hey." It looked like Auggie ruined his whole day but what he didn't know was that his day was already ruined. He blew it up himself and he didn't need anyone else to help him do that.

Time and time again Toby expressed the distaste that he had for Auggie and I spending time together. Toby never liked Auggie, he thought we were too close, and you know, he was right. We were close, Auggie was my best friend, more so then Toby would be.

"You're grandmother wanted me to back you guys up. I'm replacing Eric," Auggie explained as he pointed towards the small man that was our temporary partner yesterday.

I smiled at Eric lightly. Thank goodness someone was kicking him off the team. He shouldn't be doing this kind of work. "So we're doing the trade off again?"

"No, we're going to their base and bugging it. We'll get more info this way. You guys would have know this if you were on time," Auggie said jokingly.

I chuckled a little too forcibly. Something about this plan wasn't sitting right with me. That seemed a little too easy. In my experience, things were never that easy. "Something popped up," I said and smiled trying to keep the conversation light even though it wasn't.

The fight that Toby and I had just cemented the idea that we weren't good for each other. He was oil and I was water. I was just upset that it took me this long to finally realize it. I could feel Toby's eyes on me. He wanted to talk, but we won't get the chance until we were back home.

After we were quickly briefed by Eric's boss, we drove to the spot in silence. We were all too stuck in our thoughts about the mission or about our emotions. No one was supposed to be at the base today, but that didn't sound right. No one would leave a base empty... would they?

Auggie was the first to speak as he pulled off to the side of the road. "Remember, there might be one or two members around. We should keep our guard up."

<>

I nodded as I looked at the base that resembled an airport hanger. With the sun high in the sky, no one was out on the streets. I felt like we were in a ghost town. This seemed too easy and it felt wrong. I have learned by now that nothing was this easy. I looked at Toby with a frown, I didn't want to do this. I wouldn't. I planted my feet firmly on the ground and said, "this doesn't feel right."

Toby frowned at me as he got out of the car. "You're over reacting," he said as he helped me out of the car.

Just because I was out didn't mean I would move. I shook my head. I was tired of him not taking me seriously. "No, Toby, I'm serious. This is not right."

Auggie stopped and looked at me. "Relax, it'll be fine," he said with a smile smile.

I frowned at both of them. No one was listening to me. I wanted to throw a fit, I wanted them to listen, but they already had the plan in their minds and I had no choice but to follow. They weren't going to listen to someone like me. After all, I wasn't as skilled as either of them. I felt my stomach drop as I took a step forward.

"I'll take the guard outside," Toby said quickly to the both of us.

I couldn't be with him. "I'll be with Auggie and do the inside guy."

He frowned at me, as if I just made a terrible choice. Once again he was questioning my choices. I knew that we stood on shaky ground but in a matter of a few hours, I felt like our relationship crumbled underneath me. I didn't care if grandmother would be disappointed in me. I couldn't keep this going any longer. I shook my head. I needed to be away from him, I couldn't be close to him or I was sure I would have a mental break down.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Toby asked, he deep blue eyes piercing my soul. 

I nodded. I for sure, knew exactly what I want and he was not on that list. "Yes. And we are over. I can't keep dating you," I said firmly.

He grabbed a hold of my hand as if it would make things better. "Wait, Annalise, just hear me out. We don't want to do anything rash," Toby said.

I wasn't going to listen to him gravel again. I wasn't going back on this choice. We were done. "No, let go of me," I said, ripping my hand out of his. I didn't want to talk to him. I wanted to be alone or with someone other than him. I didn't want to hear him out.

His face screwed up in pain for a second then said, "fine, be that way." And with that, he stormed off.

As Auggie and I walked around the back of the base I could tell that Auggie had a million questions to ask. "spit them out," I said to Auggie with a sigh as I pulled out my gun.

He nodded as he looked around to see if the coast was clear. It was empty. "What is your problem with Toby?" Auggie asked as if he was my big brother.

"I finally realized that we are too different," I mumbled at the ground.

"Ok. well are you sad about it?" he said and opened the back door.

I shook my head. I actually felt free. "No."

"Good. Then I'm happy for you," he said walked into the back side of the base with careful steps.

As we walked through the isles of guns and drugs, we expected to see at least one guard but we saw no person looking out. This added to my uneasiness by the second. I felt like this was a trap, I was just waiting for someone to catch us.

We were just about to walk into the main floor of the base then Auggie said, "wait, there's something not right about this." He stopped and looked around as if he could see something that I couldn't.

Finally someone was listening to me. I stopped and looked around at the dimly lit space as well, trying to find something that was a red flag. I braced myself, waiting for something to jump out at me or gun fire to break the silence but nothing did.

Something caught my eye and I took a step onto the main floor clearing to see it better. But as I did this, all of the lights turned on. I squinted my eyes from the brightness and put my hand up to cover my eyes from the flood lights. After a second, my eyes got use to the light and I could see that there were at least 20 guys with guns about 35 yards in front of us. We were surrounded.