Karma

Title: Karma

Author: GoddessofBirth

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Anna would be so awesome if I owned it

Spoilers: Through Season Three

A/N: Special thanks to kuryakingirl  for both beta-ing and for helping me co-spawn this bunny

Previous oneshots in the series can be found here and here.

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Anna and Casey sat in the van in the dark, Nebraskan night. A thin swath of trees stood between them and their target. He loaded darts into a tranq gun while she slipped an earpiece into her ear. She lifted her watch to her mouth.

'Testing, testing. Can you hear me?'

'I'm sitting right next to you, Wu.'

She narrowed her eyes 'Ha Ha, Casey.' She pointed to his ear and he gave an affirmative grunt.

He handed her one of the tranq guns and she slid it into the holster at her hip, double checking to make sure her sigg was secured in her shoulder holster.

'So who's this guy, again?'

Casey looked up from where he was tapping the keys of a small iPhone.

'He's a CIA asset that was...misplaced. It took a year to locate him and intel says he's scheduled for termination. Tonight's the last chance to extract him.'

'If he's the CIA's responsibility, why are we here?' Anna reached underneath her shirt to tighten the straps of her vest.

'They were adamant about this being handled out of house.' She knew that an outside job had to mean the CIA didn't want a paper trail, that they didn't want the CIA itself to know the asset had been recovered.

Then Casey smirked. 'Besides, they wanted a successful mission.'

Then, he tapped a few more buttons on the iPhone and held it up between them. It showed a schematic of the target building. 'Our source puts him here.' He pointed to a flashing blue light. 'There are guards at the perimeter here, here and here.' With each 'here' he pointed to a red dot.

'In order to maintain the illusion that this is a private residence, the outside guards are all contracted from a local security agency; Beckman has ordered tranqs only until we get inside.' Casey's sneer let her know what he thought of the idea.

'Got it.' She grabbed the handle of the door and had just pulled it open when Casey stopped her.

'Watch your right side, Wu. You've been dropping it in simulations lately.' She gave a brief nod to let him know she'd heard and then they headed out into the trees.

They crept down the wooded hill, and slipped over the chain link fence. Anna followed Casey in a crouched run until they reached the cover of the landscaped bushes. They both pulled their tranq guns and waited. She peered around the cover of the shrub and pulled off a shot. There was a small 'thud' as a body hit the ground.

She glanced over at Casey, where he was taking aim with his own weapon. Something was off. Missions usually brought out the happy, maniacal Casey that his junior agents all knew and alternately loved and feared. Tonight, though, he just looked...disgruntled.

She waited until he had downed the other guard and they'd rounded the corner of the house to the next set before getting his attention.

'Psst.' He ignored her. 'Hey. Casey. Psst.'

He turned to glare at her. 'What, Wu? I'm trying to shoot someone here.' He aimed but was then forced to lower his weapon as the guard disappeared into shadow.

'Are you okay? You look...grumpy. More than usual.'

While she waited for his answer she sited another guard. After a second he shrugged and gave a small grunt. 'I'm worried about Alex.' She raised an eyebrow in question. 'My daughter.'

She started, causing her aim to go wide, and the dart missed the guard. The yelp and diminishing whine of a distant dog barely covered her shrill, 'You have a daughter?'

'Pipe down, Wu!' he hissed. 'I don't want someone having to tell her her father died for real this time. Trust me, I was as surprised as you! To your left!' She swung her gun around and released a tranq into the guard that had almost walked right on top of them. A second later, Casey finally hit the guard she'd missed, and they slowly began creeping to the next red dot.

'What did she do to put that look on your face?'

She barely heard his low, 'The look wasn't for her,' as he positioned himself at the edge of a low stone wall.

Neither spoke for a few minutes, but when it was apparent he wasn't going to continue, she whispered, 'Well?'

'Drop it, Wu.' He fixed her with his 'I will shoot you if you don't shut up' glare. While it had reduced many a junior agent to a quivering mass, Anna just rolled her eyes. Hadn't he learned it didn't work on her?

She saw and raised his glare with her 'I will continue to annoy you incessantly until you give in' look. They stared at each other, neither backing down. There was a brief rustle to the side and Casey brought up his firearm and discharged it without looking. Anna heard a muffled 'Owf' and then a thud.

'So....'

He let loose a long, annoyed growl. 'Fine, Wu. She's dating the bearded dwarf.'

'Morgan?' She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling, but it was something.

'I told you to let it drop.' His words were gruff, but she caught the edge of concern in them. It might have surprised some of his older partners, but she had seen him unbend slightly since he'd returned to the NSA after his...whatever it was.

'Not gonna cry, are you, Wu?'

She shook her head to clear it. 'No, it's fine. It's weird thinking of him with someone else, but I'd be a pretty big bitch if I wanted him alone forever, wouldn't I?' The final guard appeared over the fence and she tranq'd him. Twice.

Then it hit her. Morgan was dating Casey's daughter. Morgan was dating Casey's daughter. It was like some kind of karmic justice. She snickered as she holstered the tranq gun and pulled out her sigg.

'I hate to tell you this, Casey, but it sounds like she's an adult, so it's not like you can control who she sees.'

'Hmph.' He was clearly skeptical. 'That's what Ellie said as well.'

'Ellie? Ellie Woodcomb?' She shot him a pointed look and watched as something flashed in his eyes before they went carefully blank.

'Alright, Wu, enough with the lady feelings. I've got a cigar and a bottle of scotch waiting for me, so let's get this done.'

She fell in behind him as they slipped in the door, but carefully filed the conversation away. After all, he was the one who had taught her the importance of details.

They rounded the first corner and she pulled off a quick shot, dropping the Ring agent they encountered. She pulled a tiny receiver out of his ear and inserted it into her own, monitoring the closed circuit chatter.

Casey consulted his map. 'Left here, Wu.' They slid along the wall and started up a staircase. Before they got two steps, a shot rang out, refracting off the stairwell and sending them diving for cover. Casey returned fire and Anna put one hand over her ear, listening.

'They found the guards. We've been made.'

Casey tossed her the iPhone without looking at her. 'Go get him. I'll hold them off.'

She turned and ran up the stairs, diving down the hall and hiding behind the edge of a large wardrobe. She glanced at the map. The blinking dot was close. She heard a hail of gunfire behind her and knew Casey had switched from his Sigg to his back up piece. She needed to hurry. She dodged down several hallways, stopping every once and awhile to flatten against the wall and let an enemy agent pass her by. She turned the last corner and came face to face with another guard.

He pulled back his fist but before he could come close to connecting, she whipped her leg up and around, catching him across the cheek and knocking him unconscious. She reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. She was right on top of the dot now and she shoved several keys into a door's lock before finally finding one that turned. She opened it and slipped in backwards, taking a last look down the deserted hall before closing the door and turning to look at the room's sole occupant.

He was sitting on a thin cot, his hands cuffed to a chain above his head. His black hair curled unkempt down to his shoulders. The ends were hacked unevenly, by a knife, most likely, probably to keep it out of the way of the interrogators' work. And they had worked. He had bruises over almost every inch of his shirtless torso, deep purple blotches. She could see circular marks over his chest where tape had held down electrical wires, and singed areas where the current had been turned up too high. He had lifted his head at her entry and his face was shadowed in both bruises and days old beard growth. Somehow, though, the blue, blue eyes that started back at her had still managed to retain a glint of humor.

'Well.' His voice was hoarse. She knew everyone screamed eventually. 'At least I get a pretty interrogator this time.'

She shook her head and holstered her gun. 'I'm Agent Wu. You'll come with me if you want to live.'

He shook his head, wincing at the motion. 'Somebody's been watching too many Terminator movies.' But he held still as she quickly picked the lock on the cuffs. His arms dropped to his sides and he took a second to rub the deep grooves they had left. She realized he looked vaguely familiar.  Anna lifted her watch to her mouth. 'We're coming out now.'

He hoisted himself to his feet and she saw he was heavily favoring his right leg.

'Can you walk?'

He grinned suddenly, then grimaced at his split lip before answering in a bad Scottish accent. 'I'll bloody well walk out of here.'

She rolled her eyes and slipped up under his arm, helping to support his weight. 'Now who's seen too many movies?'

They shambled toward the door. 'So, who are you with? CIA? FBI?'

She stuck her head out to make sure the coast was still clear and they limped down the hall together. 'No, NSA.'

They were approaching a corner.

'Ah. Let me guess – you're here with - ' He was interrupted by a body sailing through the air and then landing with a thud against the wall. A second later another man flew by, joining the first. 'Guess that answers that question.'

Casey stuck his head around the corner. 'Get a move on, you two. I want to get out of here before I start drawing retirement.'

The Asset snorted. 'Nice of you to join the party, Casey.'

Casey lifted his chin and gave an acknowledging grunt before disappearing, again. Anna rounded the corner, she and the Asset trailing him as quickly as they could with his injury. They stepped around several bodies in their journey toward the front door.

'Carnage as always, I see.'

Casey called back as he walked out the door. 'I'm effective.'

They had almost reached the exit when Anna felt the man next to her stiffen, and then yell, 'Watch out.' He jerked her down, falling on top of her as a bullet flew by from the right and embedded itself in the wall, level with where her head had been. Anna pulled her weapon and reached her arm up and around the body pressing her down and fired a quick shot, hitting the shooter in the head before he could pull the trigger again. She dropped her arm. That had been too close.

'Thanks.'

He raised his head and smiled down cockily. 'Anytime, sweetheart.' They sat there for a few seconds and then Anna gave his body a little push.

'You can get off, now. You weigh a ton! Then she sniffed. 'Plus, you smell.'

His smile turned apologetic. 'I think I'm stuck.'

'CASEY!'

Casey ran back in the door, gun drawn. When he saw the two of them he relaxed and reached down to haul the Asset up. He shook his head at Anna. 'I told you to watch the right side.'

They made it back to the van without encountering further resistance and Anna hopped into the passenger side while Casey helped the Asset climb into the back. By the time he climbed behind the steering wheel, Anna had pulled her hair out of it's pony tail and unbuckled both her holsters. She unbuttoned her black shirt and yanked it off to expose the bright red tank underneath it and then propped her boots on the dashboard.

When they were safely on the road back to headquarters, Anna leaned her head back and closed her eyes, but kept her ears tuned to the cryptic conversation flowing around her.

'Does she - ?'

'No.' Casey growled out.

'Didn't she used to - ?'

'Yes.'

The man laughed ruefully. 'Someday, Casey, you're going have to tell me how you always manage to wind up with all the good looking partners.'

He really should know better than to talk about her like she wasn't there. She slammed her boots back down on the floor board and turned to face him.

'Alright, Romeo, what's your name?'

He smiled a charming smile and smoothly held out his hand. 'Larkin. Bryce Larkin.'

Unfortunately for him, the effect was ruined, as less than a second later, his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out cold onto the floorboard of the van.