Title: Behind Closed Doors

Author: Alexandria Kanaras

Rating: PG13

Summary: A rough take down leaves the team regrouping. A short hurt/comfort.

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

Pairing: Jimmy/Annie Friendship

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The road seemed impossibly long before him and it was mostly empty. Annie was sitting beside him, staring out the window, eerily silent. He could see the beginning of the bruises forming. Exhaustion was setting in fast.

The last chase had been brutal. 8 days through 10 states. Countless cops and departments. They had finally cornered the fugitive in an abandoned building. Once inside he had gotten Annie separated from the rest of the team and then tried to take her head off with a rebar, instead managing to knock her gun out of her hands. Both of them diving for it, in the following struggle both of them had manage to land some mean blows.

Jimmy could hear their fighting through the locked door and he hadn't been that terrified in a long ass time. He had managed to bust through the door just as she retrieved her gun and put a bullet in the asshole's knee cap. It was gonna be a long time before he got the image of Annie wide eyed and frightened out of his mind.

"We stopping or driving through?" He asked it softly, watching from the corner of his eye as she rolled her head to look at him.

"Stopping." Annie's voice though tired was firm, her decision was made. Jimmy was grateful he wasn't gonna have to argue with her, or worse, switch with her. "I already got permission from the Chief."

"I'll start looking." Jimmy murmured. He was exhausted. He needed to stop. He was ready to sleep. He knew Annie was ready as well, it had taken her ten minutes to stop shaking. Even then it had taken him pulling her aside and gripping her hands almost painfully between his own. Watching as she took a few slow steady breaths and curled her hands around his thumbs. A few moments later she had split the team up between the two trucks and ordered them to roll out towards home.

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"Think we'll push through?" Marco asked without moving his head from where it was resting on the glass of the window. Staring at the passing no mans land blankly.

"Not a chance, whatever went down in that room rattled 'em. We'll stop." Daisy stated hearing Marco as he hummed in agreement. "Did you see what Jimmy did to that door?"

"Annie was on the other side with a psychopath who wanted to kill her." Marco voice was even, he wasn't gonna get the image of that door or more so what was left of that door out of his mind any time soon. It looked like someone had taken a block of C4 to it.

"He's lucky that he was down before Jimmy came through the door because if he hadn't been, Jimmy would have killed him." Both of them missed Luke's uncertain look in the backseat.

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The motel was empty, built in the middle of no where on a long stretch of dark highway and it took no time for Annie to book them three rooms.

"How are we breaking it up?" Luke asked, watching as Annie paused before releasing a long breath.

"Daisy and I in one. Marco and Luke in one. Jimmy you get the third." She handed out the keys as she said it.

Annie trudged her bag upstairs, not paying much attention to Daisy who was following behind at a steady pace until they reached their room.

"You ok?" Daisy asked, noticing she was favoring her right side.

"Yeah. Just sore as hell."

"Why are you staying in here?' Daisy watched as Annie raised an eyebrow in silence and quickly back-stepped out of the hole she was forming beneath herself, 'I just mean normally you and Jimmy have a room to yourselves."

"Luke's a nice kid and all but I don't know him well enough to be giving him ammo to end our careers." Annie said it evenly and Daisy tilted her head, nodding in agreement.

"I understand."

"I'm gonna take a quick shower." Annie says as she pulls her clothes out of her go bag. Daisy changes while Annie is in there, watching as she comes out wearing a pair of soft cotton black pants and a tank top. The bruises are startling against her skin. Hand prints dot her arms, she's favoring her right side and her hip. She's also got a shadow forming at the corner of her jaw.

"Jesus Annie...'

"I'm okay. Sore. But okay." She was stuffing things back into her bag and Daisy knew she wasn't staying.

"He's gonna photograph it?"

"Yeah. In the morning. When it darkens some more."

"Kay."

"Thanks Daisy."

"Hey I get the place to myself. I like that." Daisy announced as she laid herself across the bed with a grin as wide as their state. Annie snorted, picking up her bag and moving towards the door.

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Jimmy was waiting for her, his arm pulling her into the room before lifting her shirt and hissing at the span of bruises across her ribs.

"I'm okay.' she says as she pulls the shirt down to hide the bruises again. 'I'm just freezing." She distracted him with something he could fix.

"Come on." He pulled her gently towards the bed. Following her after pausing long enough to pull her boots off and set them near the end of the bed. His arm sliding beneath her head, curving back around to her shoulder before his other hand slid around her waist. Pressing against her from shoulders to hips, feeling her relax into the heat. "You okay?"

"I'm good. Great." She's quiet for a long time but while her breathing is even it's not slow enough for her to be asleep. Jimmy runs his fingers in slow circles, feeling her relax a little more each moment.

"Sleep. I'll be here."

"He had my gun..." He was waiting for this, the self doubting. The what ifs.

"You got it back."

"He kicked my ass Jimmy.' he pressed a soft, lingering kiss against her temple before gently sliding his scruff down her neck just to feel her squirm against him.

"You put a bullet through his knee cap Annie. He's never gonna walk right again." He felt her as she released a long shaky breath before nodding slightly, the tension seemingly draining out of her.

"I got him." She finally breathed, feeling Jimmy smile against her neck as he burrowed closer to her.

"Yeah. You got him good."

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"They ever coming down?" Marco asked, pushing a fork full of actually decent eggs into his mouth. Daisy lowering herself in the seat across from him, both of them watching as Luke got up and disappeared into the men's room. Muttering to himself about washing his hands.

"He beat the hell out of her."

"Who did?"

"Henderson. The last fugitive. When they were in that room... she's covered in bruises."

"She okay?"

"Yeah. You know Annie. He'll take care of her."

"Not worried about that. She tell you why she did the split that way?" Marco watched as Daisy gestured to where Luke had disappeared, surprise filtering over him as he raised both eyebrows. "She doesn't trust him?"

"Not with our careers."

"Smart."

"Yeah."

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Annie winced as Jimmy wrapped the ace bandage around her ribs. Blowing out a shaky breath and letting him rub his hands up and down her arms. Her ribs only hurting slightly less than before now that the binding was there. "You look like hell."

"Well. At least we got him."

"Yeah. Come on." He helped her slide the shirt on and left her to button it up. Before grabbing both their bags and going to meet the rest of them downstairs. She kept his pace, eyes focused forward.

Daisy and Marco were finishing their breakfast and glanced up when Jimmy set the bags down. "I'll get us some grub." Annie nodded, sitting carefully before looking up to see two set of eyes staring back at her.

"He take the pics?"

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just some bumps."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

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The chief was waiting for them when they got back to headquarters and called Annie and Jimmy into his office.

"How are you doing Frost?"

"Hurting.' she didn't try to hide the bruises, they would be there for awhile and they would settle further. As long as she didn't move to fast or have someone bump into her she was fine.

"Ribs busted?"

"Yeah. 2 of em." Jimmy answered for her.

"Go to the clinic. Get a pass or do not pass go."

"Yes sir."

"And take it easy. Everyone here knows you're tougher than they are. Don't need to be proving it." She snorted and then winced,

"Drive her til she gets cleared for it."

"Will do." The Chief pretended not to hear the rest of it as they were walking out the door.

"You'd drive me anyways."

"I've seen what you do to local laws Boots. I want us to get there."