Amidst the turmoil... Who: Annie and Auggie & Juliet & Clint Where: What ends up being their apartment, and the forest What: Arriving When: Thursday morning Warnings: Nudity? If that needs a warning? Open: Nope Status: Complete!
Sense of smell was the most powerful of memory joggers, but even more important when one of your other sense has been lost. And Auggie knew the smells he should have been waking up to, and none were there. Instead his nose was assailed by unfamiliar scents, right down to the actual type of air he was breathing.
He sat up, the coolness unfamiliar on his naked chest, cooler than that of his apartment, and quieter. The sounds that normally greeted him of a morning, the faint hum of the fridge in the kitchen, the almost indiscernible whir of the fans in the environmental control system, the distant echo of vehicles traveling with their occupants on their daily commute to their place of business, they were all missing.
“Annie?”
His hand reached out into the empty space beside him where Annie had fallen asleep the night before. “Annie?” The note of concern in his voice would have been obvious to anyone who could hear him.
“Annie, where are you?”
Silence was the stern reply, and Auggie tossed the covers back, stood up, his feet feeling the different flooring beneath them. He took two steps, his left hand reaching out for the wall he knew should be there, but finding nothing.
“Come on Walker, did you bring home something from Colombia you didn’t tell me about?”
He returned to the bed, reached down and pulled his stick out from beneath it, relieved that something familiar was where it should be. Next he reached down to the bedside chest, feeling for his phone, and picking up the similarly shaped and sized object, but knowing immediately it wasn’t his phone. And it wasn’t Annie’s.
“Annie, gettin’ a bit chilly in here,” he called out, hoping that he’d hear something to tell him she was actually there.
But nothing came.
And nothing made any sense.
Annie stretched and yawned, hating that the sunshine was waking her up. Neither of them had anywhere to go so she wanted to sleep a bit longer. When he hands ran into something that wasn’t the smooth headboard, she shot up immediately, eyes darting around. She was in the middle of a forest. She shivered as a breeze moved across her skin. The night before had been amazing and she was almost positive that she’d fallen asleep with Auggie’s arms wrapped around her. But now, she was laying on the ground in the middle of the forest and she was completely, bare assed naked.
The fact that she was naked didn’t bother her as much as the fact that she was in a forest. She closed her eyes and listened, trying to hear any familiar sounds but got nothing. The smells were different too. Spending as much time with Auggie as she had since being pulled off the Farm had taught her to trust her other senses just as much as her sight and it had done a lot toward keeping her alive.
She got to her feet quickly and looked around, trying to determine which direction to go. When all else fails, head North. She couldn’t remember who told her that. Unless, of course, she was in Korea, then heading North could be a bad thing. But she’d been to Korea before and the trees around her didn’t look like the ones indigenous to the area. So maybe she wasn’t in Korea. All she knew for sure is that she wasn’t in Auggie’s apartment and that was not a good thing. Looking up to find the direction of the sun, Annie saw a tall white building peeking up over the trees. It looked a bit like the white tower from Lord of the Rings but she knew it couldn’t be that. She didn’t know of any city that had something like that, but there were a lot of cities she didn’t know anything about. Deciding that was the best way to go, she started to use it as a directional finder, hoping to find civilization, and clothing.
Auggie fumbled his way across the room, locating a door and pulling it open a few inches, surprised that it wasn’t locked. He listened, ears straining to hear something familiar, something that would tell him Annie was there, was safe. But nothing came. His hand remained on the doorknob, senses going into overdrive as he tried to figure out where he was, and who was responsible.
After a length of time that was almost as painful as a lifetime, but was in reality less than a minute, Auggie slowly opened the door, acutely aware of the silence, and praying the door didn’t squeak. It didn’t.
He moved out of the room into what he assumed was a hallway from the sounds of it, his arm reaching out into the void until it made contact with a wall that confirmed the limitations.
“Annie?”
He was starting to get agitated, and worried. Annie wouldn’t do this, couldn’t do this, and Auggie couldn’t figure out any explanation that made any sense whatsoever.
“Is there someone there? Anyone?”
Clint was on his way to practice yet again. Maybe this time he could do it without hurting anyway. He had his eyes and ears open, as he always did. Things were getting stranger by the day so anything could come running out of the forest and try to attack him. He was almost expecting it as he walked along. What he wasn’t expecting to see was a naked woman running through the trees in the general direction of the spire. He shook his head and blinked a couple of times. Sure enough, she was actually there.
“Hey!” He called out, making sure to keep his bow down so she wouldn’t think he was after her or something. “You okay?”
Annie kept heading in the direction of the tower. She was tired and a little cold and definitely hungry. Things were moving along smoothly until someone called out to her. She froze and looked at the man. He had a quiver strapped to his back and a bow in his hand. That was definitely different. When he asked if she was okay, she decided that maybe he was friendly. Of course it could have been a ploy to get her in closer. She wasn’t sure. She decided to use what she’d been taught, and her nakedness, to her advantage.
“I seem to be a bit lost.” She called out, moving toward the man. “And a bit naked.” She chuckled.
“I can see that.” Clint chuckled as well. He headed in her direction. When he got just a few feet away, he unstrapped his quiver and pulled his shirt off, handing it to the woman.
“Um, thanks.” Annie smiled shyly, taking the shirt. She found the best way to put men off guard was to pretend to be the damsel in distress. If he tried anything, she could certainly protect herself. “No one’s ever literally given me the shirt off their back before.” She slipped the shirt on. It wasn’t too much too big but it was just enough to cover what needed to be covered.
“It’s no problem, really.” He nodded, carrying his quiver now. Apparently practicing was going to have to wait. “Let’s get you to the apartments. Or at least find you something to wear.” He motioned with his head in the direction Annie had been traveling and then started to walk.
“So I was going the right way after all?” Annie asked. Clint just nodded and they headed toward the city.
Juliet had taken to running the stairs in the apartment block every day as a part of her training regime. She was still to locate a gym where she could train without drawing attention, especially when it came to her pole dancing. Some people took that all the wrong way and she wasn’t interested in attracting the wrong sort of attention.
She was on her way down the stairs of their building when an apartment door opened and a man appeared, wearing only a pair of drawstring pants, and looking quite lost. She remembered that feeling only too well, so paused when she reached the landing. “Hey, good morning.”
Auggie had heard the footsteps on the way up, and then on the way down again, so had opened the door as they approached. Stepping out he’d braced himself for what was to come, and was relieved and surprised when instead of an alarm going off and people yelling and running, pushing and bashing, he was greeted by a woman.
“Good morning,” he returned. “Or at least it would be if I could figure out what I’ve done with my apartment,” he continued, briefly waving his hand toward the open door.
Juliet smiled, eyeing the man’s face and taking a small step closer, intent on the direction of his stare. “You’ve had guests you don’t remember, and they’ve done things you don’t want to think about?” she asked with a soft laugh. He was new, or at least she hadn’t seen him before, and she would definitely remember seeing him. “Or you’ve woken up and not been where you went to sleep?” she offered, remembering only too well how disorienting it had been.
Auggie grinned, nodding. “Yeah, something like that.” The voice sounded friendly enough, but then that’s what they would, given he was able to step outside the apartment this easily. “Could almost say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
He paused for a miniscule moment before asking, “you wouldn’t happen to be able to tell me where we are, would you? Buck’s night and all,” he added as if to justify him not knowing where in the hell he was.
“It’s OK, no need to make things up,” she told him, settling back against the banister and eyeing him up and down. She couldn’t sense demon, so relaxed a little as she answered. “We’re all here against our will, but if this is prison then I would say we’ve been the lucky ones!”
“Lucky ones?” Auggies echoed, his mind racing to find substance in her sentence that would prove he’d been kidnapped. But his mind was struggling with that, the facts negating the restriction, just the actual situation a challenge. “Where are we?”
Juliet explained the Island, and the Spire, and noticed he didn’t seem to ever look her in the eye. “So as you can see, that towery spire thing, in the middle of town? Pretty active right now, with that lightning and all.”
Auggie’s attention hadn’t wavered, but his confusion did scuttle across his face, eyebrows drawing together as she spoke. Kidnapped, by an island? Even Henry Wilcox would have had to pay some big bucks to get an actor this good, and a story this bizarre, and for what?
“You do realise how crazy that all sounds, right?”
Juliet nodded, pushing herself off the bannister, about to head on down the stairs to continue her training. She had another 4 laps to do. “Yeah, but doesn’t make it any less true,” she said, starting down the stairs again. “We’re downstairs, apartment 2201 so if you need anything drop by!” She disappeared beneath the landing.
“Well, thanks, I’ll be sure to do that.” Auggie stood there, completely baffled, and for the first time in longer than he could remember, not quite sure what to do.
“You in good shape?” Clint asked her as they walked, taking a look over his shoulder at Annie.
“Good enough.” She nodded, looking around before looking back at the man in front of her.
“Alright. I think it’ll be better if we run it. I know you’re barefoot but the terrain is pretty soft and easy to manage until we get to the asphalt. Sound good?” He stopped and looked at her.
“Yeah, I can handle that.” She smiled at him. Clint nodded.
“Alright, let’s go.” He took off running, going at a good clip but not his fastest pace. Annie took off after him, running as best she could in her bare feet. He wasn’t wrong, the forest floor was pretty easy to handle. She knew she’d have some soreness but nothing too bad.
With the pace they had set it took only about ten minutes of running for them to get to the city. Clint stopped at the edge and looked around before stepping out onto the street. Annie caught up soon after, only panting a little bit.
“I always like to run in the morning.” Annie chuckled. Clint smiled at her.
“Me too.” He nodded. “The apartments are this way.” He turned down one of the streets and picked up the pace, though he wasn’t even jogging. Annie was able to keep up, even though the concrete of the sidewalk was starting to get hot on the bottoms of her feet.
“Thanks.” She looked around as they walked, trying to keep track of which direction they were going. It was another fifteen minutes of walking before Clint stopped in front of a set of two buildings.
“You can find yourself a place to live and your stuff will pop up. There are some empty apartments so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.” He smiled.
“What do you mean, pop up?” Annie tilted her head.
“You go to sleep and when you wake up the next morning, your stuff is in the apartment.” He shrugged. “I’d stay and tell you more but I have to get back to my kid, so....if you need anything just call, okay? I’m Clint Barton.” He held out his hand.
“Alright, thanks.” So the guy had a kid? That was weird. Annie shook the offered hand and nodded. “Annie Walker.”
“Nice to meet you, Annie. Welcome to the island.” Clint smiled and then took off down the street. Annie shook her head and looked at the building. If this was some kind of a trap, she was ill prepared for it. She took a deep breath and just went into the building, hoping that nobody was there to murder her.
“Hello?” Annie called out as she started up the stairs. “Anybody here?”
“Annie??”
Auggie reached out when he heard her voice, realising he’d left his stick in the apartment, but not wanting to go back for it. His knuckles connected hard with the banister and he gripped it with both hands.
“Annie, is that you?”
“Auggie?!” Annie started to run up the stairs, sighing with relief when she saw him. “Auggie, I’m so glad you’re here.” She made her way up to him and took his hand before wrapping her arms around him. “I don’t know where here is, but I was afraid I was here alone.” She hoped he wouldn’t ask about the t-shirt she was wearing, even though she knew it probably smelled like the man that had given it to her.
The wave of relief that swept over him almost made Auggie weak at the knees. He knew he loved her, but didn’t realise just how much until just that moment. “Where were you?” he mumbled into her hair, arms wrapped around her, and holding her tight. “And what are you wearing?”
“I was in the forest, apparently.” She sighed, just resting her head against his chest and holding onto him. She needed him right then more than she ever thought she would. “This man found me, gave me his shirt. I was...kind of naked.” She cleared her throat, then lifted her head just enough to kiss his neck. “With good reason.” She smirked slightly.
“Sounds like a nightmare,” Auggie replied, “one of those ones where you wake up naked, somewhere strange.” He lifted his head, hands sliding up till they were holding her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. “Are you OK? Really? Because all this...” He indicated their surroundings with a lift of his chin. “... is kinda freaking me out, when you weren’t here when I woke up. And am I going crazy, or just lost my mind, or are we not where we were when we fell asleep?”
“You’re not going crazy.” She shook her head. “We’re not where we were when we went to sleep. I’m not feeling any adverse side effects so I’m pretty sure we weren’t drugged, but then I don’t know about every drug on the market so...” She trailed off. “Aside from a little rawness on the bottom of my feet, I’m fine. At least, better than I was a few minutes ago.” She kissed his chin and lightly scratched his back. “The man that found me said that if we settle into the apartment, our stuff will show up while we’re asleep tonight.”
“Did he now? I’m not sure that will encourage me to go to sleep tonight. And I agree, I don’t feel like there’s been drugs involved. There’s usually something, even just a taste in the mouth...” His hands drew her face closer and he kissed her on the forehead. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but at least I have the most important part of my life here with me.”
Annie couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “I know what you mean.” She wrapped her arms a little tighter around him. “Let’s get inside, okay? I’m not sure the people around here want to see us being all affectionate.” She took his hand and started toward the door.
“They’re gonna have to get used to it if we’re gonna be spending some time here, because that’s just the way it’ll be when we’re not on the job Walker, so I hope you’re up to it!” Auggie followed her back into the apartment and closed the door behind him. “One thing though, you’re going to have to help me out with the layout here. I’m guessing our stuff might be coming on the midnight express, but this place? It definitely isn’t my place.”
“I’ll walk you through as many times as you need me to, okay?” She kept a grip on his hand, smiling a little. “I don’t know how long we’re going to be here, but you need to get a feel for the place either way.”
“Yeah, or I’m in for a lot of stubbed toes, and that’s just not what I need right now.” He squeezed her hand, then with a wry smile and slight lift of the chin. “First mission, the bathroom,” he said with some amusement, “and then food. Gotta get our priorities right, and of course before you go on any mission... “ He drew her to him and his free arm went around her waist as he leaned in and kissed her. “That’s a tradition I want to start.”
Annie squeaked a little as he pulled her close, then kissed him back, smiling. “I think that’s a tradition that I like.” She patted his chest lightly. “I don’t know where the bathroom is so we’re both going to be lost for a second.” She kissed him again. “But I promise not to let you have any stubbed toes.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Walker, because you know now that if I do stub my toe you’ll have to kiss it better.”
“I will most definitely kiss it better.” She grinned. “After thoroughly washing it.” She chuckled and kissed his chin. “Now, I think you said something about bathroom....”