Note: Again, I don't own these characters, they all belong to USA and CA Writers.

Sorry for the delay, traveled over the holidays and decided to leave the laptop at home, plus no one knows I do this besides you followers. It's my personal guilty pleasure and somewhat exciting to have a secret. Not looking forward to real life tomorrow.

I think I've ended this in a way that give closure to all. I hope you like it. Adele's album has so much on it that inspires me to write more CA fanfic. I will try to finish up the other stories soon. Please review! I appreciate hearing from you all.

"Annie I'm sorry for dragging you into this life. When we met all those years ago. . . it was a fling, but then it turned into something more. You made me feel something I never felt before. . . I've thought of you often over the years, it was tough at first, but then time passed. . . and now that I know what your life has been like, I feel responsible, I'm . . . sorry for everything I've done to hurt you, to drag you into this life," continued Ben.

"What is this? You came for forgiveness? There's nothing to forgive Ben. I made my choices, what happened to me since we've met isn't about you, so don't go on feeling responsible," said Annie with more disdain than she had intended. Annie was still feeling groggy, but now, he came to her with this now, she was annoyed by the current situation he put her in and wasn't at all interested in rehashing the past. It would have been nice had he said what he said years ago, but she got over him, she got her closure on her own and now he needed forgiveness after all this time? She was starting to get angry, but she could see that he was genuinely sorry.

"I needed to say those things. I don't think I've ever said I was sorry for breaking your heart."

Annie couldn't help it, she rolled her eyes at his last remark. "Ben, you're the worst and best thing that happened to me."

"I don't quite know how to take that, but thanks?"

/

"Ryan, are you still there?" asked Fitz.

"Yeah," said an out of breath Ryan who had booked it up the stairs and through corridors to try to get back to Annie.

"I have some of our guys heading over to look out for this guy, do you think he means to harm Annie?"

"No, I don't know actually," said Ryan. "I'm almost here, I gotta go."

When Ryan reached Annie's floor, he saw her doctor enter another room. "Anyone been in?" he asked the men stationed outside. "The doctor is inside right now."

/

"There's nothing to forgive, but if it makes you feel better, I have a wonderful life and a future with someone I love very much. I haven't looked back and I won't be looking back. I've learned to keep my eyes. . . "

Suddenly Ryan swung the door open with his gun pointed at Ben. "Step away from her."

"Whoa, cowboy, that's not necessary. I'm not here to hurt Annie," said Ben as he put his hands up and backed away from Annie's bedside.

"Why are you here?" asked Ryan gruffly.

"We were just getting there, honey, look at me, it's okay, he's not going to hurt me so you can put away the gun." Ryan hesitated. He looked over at Annie and then back to Ben who still had his hands up. Ryan walked over and asked, "You carrying?"

Ben nodded. "Back of my pants."

"Turn around,"

Ryan lifted the gun from Ben. He handed it to Annie. "Not planning on hurting anyone huh?"

"A Glock, nice," said Annie trying to lighten things up.

"All good now? Can I put my hands down?"

"I'm Ben Mercer," said Ben extending his hand to Ryan who was still pointing a gun at him.

"I know who you are."

"So Annie's told you…" before Ben finished his sentence Ryan who had stored his gun took a swing at Ben and landed square in his jaw.

Ben didn't hesitate to swing back, but Ryan blocked his swing and grabbed his arm.

Annie's monitors went crazy. "Stop, stop, it right now!" she tried shouting as she sat upright despite how painful it was to do so.

Ryan pinned Ben up against the windows and all his anger showed, "Why in the hell did you leave her?"

"Huh?" asked a confused Ben. Was he talking about leaving her in Sri Lanka? At the hospital? In Miami? Ben hadn't been put in that position in a long time, the pain radiated up his arm and he tasted the blood in his mouth.

"She could have died. I almost lost her. I just want to know what kind of man does that to someone they once loved," Ryan in his anger pushed his hands deep into Ben's back when the beeping and Annie's words finally registered. He gave Ben one last shove into the window before he released him and went to Annie.

She gave him a disapproving look. "What? He was with you, he must have known you were in bad shape and he went on his merry way."

"I didn't know she was so hurt, if I had known. . ." said Ben.

Ryan took Annie's hand. He saw that she was taking deep breaths, "Are you okay?" he asked Annie as he looked at her monitors, things were going back to normal and the beeping stopped. "I'm hungry, where's the food you promised?"

"I left it outside," he chuckled. "Let me get it," said Ryan. "You, you stay put. I have questions."

A nurse came in with Ryan. "Your blood pressure rose, what's going on?"

"I'm fine."

"Are these gentlemen causing trouble?" said the nurse when she noted the obvious tension between Ryan and Ben as well as the blood on Ben's fat lip.

"Please, the patient needs her rest."

"No, I'm fine. Is it okay if I eat something?"

"Your chart indicated soft foods only, I'll get you a menu from food services."

"Thank you," said Ryan.

"Only one visitor allowed at a time," said the nurse.

"This is my brother, he's just here in town briefly, will you make an exception?" asked Annie in her sweetly innocent voice.

The nurse nodded. "But just until you finish eating."

"Thank you," said Ben who was hurt to be referred to as Annie's brother. He had time to register some of what transpired since he entered Annie's room and it was clear that she had been over him for some time now.

As soon as the nurse left Ryan asked, "Why are you here exactly?"

"Look, can I just talk to you privately for a few minutes?" asked Ben while looking only at Annie and rubbing his jaw. He still had that metallic taste in his mouth.

"No, anything you can to say to me, you can say in front of my fiancé."

"Really Annie?" after everything we've been through we can't have a few minutes?

She shook her head.

"You're pushing it Ben, Annie needs her rest," said Ryan who was curious as to why this man showed up if he was so keen on Annie not telling Joan about him.

"My agency, wants you to work with us. I work for. . ."

"Special Collections," said Ryan.

"How did you know?"

"I'm connected and know very resourceful people."

"No way. I'm out Ben, I told you that in Miami, Ryan and I are getting married and we're planning to start a family soon. I'm moving to a desk job and not looking to move to another agency."

"We are what?" asked a delighted yet surprised Ryan.

Annie nodded. "I stopped taking the pill a week ago." Ryan was continually amazed by her ability to render him speechless. He simply looked at her while squeezing her hand.

"You heard the lady, the answer is no."

"The thing is my agency is very adamant, if Annie doesn't work for us, they will let Joan know that I was there and Annie will be in a lot of hot water."

"Don't come in here threatening me Ben," said Annie.

"I'm going to tell Joan myself."

"Really?" asked a shocked Ben. He had to admit, he admired her for standing up for herself.

"Really, I'm going to say, Ben was in Miami with me, he killed Lorenzo for the NSA," said Annie. "Ryan give me your phone."

Ryan knew when to follow orders and he saw Annie's determined side so he handed her his phone. "Not that one, the other one."

"My personal encrypted phone?"

"What other one do you have?" asked Annie.

He handed it over immediately. He always carried a second phone.

Annie turned it on and dialed Joan Campbell's line.

"No, no, you can't call her Annie. Annie Walker you can't," said Ben moving closer to Annie's bed. She picked up his Glock, "Watch me."

Ryan knew this man was a killer, he didn't trust him, so he took out his weapon. "Step away from the bed and sit your ass down in that chair over there."

"Joan?"

"Annie, you're awake! I'm so glad. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, but I don't have much time to update you on my condition." She began talking and told Joan everything she remembered at lightening speed. Ryan listened and learned some things that were hard to hear about what Annie endured on her mission. It took about five minutes to bring Joan up to speed.

"I see, I had gotten intel that Lorenzo was killed and none of it added up, but now it does," said Joan on the other end.

Annie switched to speaker.

"That bastard John Redmond (made up name for the head of the NSA) thinks he can lone wolf it when there were multiple agencies involved in this operation, well he's in for a rude awakening."

"Joan, you don't have all the intel. Lorenzo was helping to move terrorists, he had perfected his pipelines and we had reason to believe he was smuggling radicals into the U.S. and bringing arms back here with them. His own cartel didn't know it. He was doing it to make money on the side."

"Well it's nice to hear from you Ben. Why didn't the NSA come to us with this intel?" demanded Joan.

"The order came straight from the Oval. I don't work for Redmond, he's just the messenger, I work for the President," said Ben. Everyone in the room understood the President's need to distance himself and have deniability.

"Then the best course of action is to have someone on the inside at the NSA. Someone who will loop us in."

"So you want Annie to work for them? No fucking way Joan, you're not using her like that," said Ryan.

"Who said anything about Annie? She's already made her intentions clear about having a family and staying put."

"Oh no, I can't Joan," said Ben when he realized she was talking about him.

"Oh you can and you will Ben," said Joan.

"You'll report to me your every assignment. The CIA needs to be looped in and you'll do it or I will haul your ass in for questioning and I'm sure Ryan will help me do it."

Ben sighs, "If they find out I'm out of a job, a livelihood."

"That time comes for all of us Ben," said Annie.

"Then you'll come work for me officially again," said Joan.

"Or me," said Ryan surprising both himself, Ben and Annie.

"You can slip out go back to where you came from. I'll have a burner sent to you. Tell them Walker is out of commission and that she's no longer a covert operative," said Joan. "I'll make sure word gets around about her retirement as well."

"Thanks Joan," said Annie.

"No, thank you and you're getting transferred in another couple of hours so rest up."

Once off the phone, Annie looks at Ryan. "Well, that's done," and sighed. "It wasn't so bad, see Ben, the truth while complicated, isn't as scary as one imagines it will be. It's liberating actually, I feel like I finally get it," said Annie while looking at Ryan. "I don't need to hear anymore truth Annie, the things you've done don't matter and there's a difference between being honest and keeping the past in the past. I'm just so happy you're okay and that you're not going into the field again. I just need to know that you're doing it for yourself and not for me, I don't want you to resent me one day."

Ben was feeling uncomfortable as he watched the couple interact. He saw what he could have had and it hurt. He cleared his throat and said, "I found this when I went to clean your safe house," he took out the envelope from his pocket and handed it to Annie. She dumped the contents into her hand and smiled when she saw the circle of diamonds on the platinum chain. Ryan had given it to her because she couldn't wear her engagement ring to work. "Oh, I thought I'd never see this again, thank you, thank you, Ryan I would never resent you, would you?" asked Annie handing it to him to put around her neck.

"Um, I have the rest of your stuff in my car if you want it before I leave, otherwise, I'll just see myself out," said Ben.

"Ryan, why don't you walk Ben out and get my things," said Annie handing the Glock back to Ryan.

Ryan and Ben both looked at each other and then Annie uncomfortably. "Go on, I'll be fine after I finally get to eat."

"Good-bye Ben. Be careful out there," said Annie.

Ryan kissed Annie and walked Ben out. There was awkward silence until they got outside the hospital. "Listen about what happened back there, I'm. . ." started Ryan.

"No need, I had it coming."

"Thank you for stepping in before Lorenzo hurt her even more," said Ryan extending his hand. Ben took it and they shook.

"I'm glad I was there for her," said Ben.

Ryan gives Ben his card and personal number. "If you ever need a favor or a job, please call."

"She won't like that."

"Oh I've never known Annie to reject a friend in need, loyalty, it's one of her best qualities," said Ryan.

"Here's Annie's stuff," said Ben.

"You got a good thing, the best thing that ever happened to me, so don't ever let her go."

"I won't, but she can't be the last best thing for you, don't give up on love man, I didn't, it took years for me to find Annie, but first I had to find myself," said Ryan.

"Here's your Glock," said Ryan.

Ben drove away while Ryan stood watching with Annie's suitcase.