Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Eleanor Bishop had left, she had been told that she would not be able to bring much in the way of personal effects. She’d be traveling with little more than a go-bag.That is to say… a go-bag minus her gun, a badge, and wallet. A weapon and different passports were to be gathered and discarded at various pick-up and drop-off points. 

Odette had told her that she would have to leave all traces of her past life behind her. That Ellie Bishop would have to be no more than a bitter memory. Like a ghost, some part of her wanted to think. 

And see… the old Ellie would have listened. She liked to follow the rules, she did as she was ordered unless her gut said elsewise, and for the occasion she did blatantly disregard rules and orders, she could recite Rules 14 and 51. 

This new Ellie had no good justification for why she had packed a notebook. It wasn’t remarkably big. Just barely the size of a book. If she could fit it into her purse, surely she should be able to stash it in her go-bag along with a pack of cheap pens. She just had to make sure no one found it. 

She was glad she brought it. She’d had a taxing day, both mentally and physically, and she needed to decompress. As much as she knew that seeing a familiar face across the street should not have shaken her as much as it had, she needed to do something about it. She couldn’t just pretend it didn’t happen. 

And so, sitting in her dingy safehouse in the slums of London, she opened the notebook for the first time since leaving D.C., and she began to write. 

Dear – 

She stopped with a small huff. It wouldn’t work. She couldn’t use Abby’s name. She couldn’t use anyone's name. If her notebook fell into the wrong hands, her friends’ lives could be in danger. 

Code names it was, then. 

Dear Angel, 

I saw you today. As much as I want to say I was happy to see you, I wasn’t in the moment. I actually freaked out a little bit. You’re observant, you could have noticed me, and that can’t happen. Not yet. 

London looks good on you, A. Whoever you were talking to looked thrilled to see you. You’re impacting a lot of people’s lives for the better. Then again, that could have just been a condition of your existence. It’s been a rough couple of months, but seeing you… Actually, the current memory of seeing you. I feel better, and you didn’t even know I was there. It’s magic. You are magic. You weren’t here for it, but a friend of ours called you a unicorn. It caught me off guard at first, but he was right.  You are loved by so many people. The world needs you, Angel. Don’t forget that. 

I don’t know if you know about… what I did. If so, I hope you can forgive me. I think you’d be one of very few. When I left, I thought I was doing it for my country. The world seems so much bigger and so much smaller now, all at once. I’m actively breaking Rule 91, and I can’t seem to stop. I keep looking back and wondering if all of this was a mistake. But it’s not. I don’t think it is. The only thing I can do is continue to go forward and see where it brings me. 

I’m sure you would have something to say. And it’d probably be exactly what I need to hear because you’re just so good at that somehow. 

Anyway, I’m not sure what else there is to say. I miss you. We all do. Thank you so much, for just… everything. For being you. For your unwitting help. Thank you. 

Yours Truly, 

B.

Closing the notebook, Ellie sighed. 

She wasn’t going to send the letter. That was too risky. So she hugged the notebook close before walking over to the rickety bed and stuffing it beneath the pillow. If she had any sense, she would burn the paper. On the other hand, if she had any sense, she wouldn’t have brought the book in the first place. 

The paper and what to do with it could be added to the laundry list of tomorrow’s problems. She knew she should rest while she could and thus prepared herself for sleep and a long day ahead. But for now, she wanted to count her blessings.

And Abby Sciuto was definitely a blessing.