Remnants

Undercover

"Okay, Jack! Close your eyes! She's coming out!" Jack heard Liza call from the bathroom of their private living area.

Before Henry and Anya left for their mock patrol, Henry and Aly's first task was donning their disguises. Henry's was fairly simple. Both men had the same build, skin tone, and eye color. A quick trim of his shaggy hair and some of Liza's hair coloring potion to darken his lighter hair was all that was needed to turn him into the slightly shorter spitting image of his older brother. Throwing on some hunting clothes and carrying a scoped rifle was all he needed to complete the look.

Aly's transformation into Anya had required more work. Jack had been instructed to wait in the chair in their bedroom while Liza and Anya prepped his soon-to-be undercover wife in the house's master bath. He had heard plenty of laughter coming from the bathroom, most of it from Aly. Clearly they were much more entertained with the prospect of Aly being at risk than he was.

Finally, after at least two hours of work, the laboring crafters of this supposedly perfect disguise were finished. The process had been long enough for Jack to clean both his scout rifle and his pistol that would be making the journey, as well as an AK pattern rifle to match Anya's and a pistol for Aly. He wanted to make sure that if she did need to defend herself, she would at least have capable weapons to use.

Now, with the four unloaded and thoroughly cleaned weapons strewn about on the floor around him, Jack shouted back. "Does this really require all of the fanfare?" he asked, annoyance clearly revealed by his tone.

"Jack, don't you be a spoil sport! Close your eyes! I can promise you've never seen your wife like this!" Liza shouted back, chiding the grumpy Journeyman.

"Fine, they're closed. Come on out," he said, clapping a hand over his eyes.

He heard the bathroom door open and close. He also heard all three women giggling. As annoyed as he was, he also was glad to know that there could be happiness around his departure. Leaving always hurt, and being home for so long only made it harder. He also noted that Anya was enjoying everything as much as Aly and Liza were. Perhaps the best way for her to get through her struggles would be by surrounding herself with people she cares about. The master who always seemed to doubt his abilities as a teacher made sure that he would remember that.

More giggling a few feet in front of him told Jack that they were in position. He heard Liza quietly shushing the other women and finally she spoke.

"Jack, you may now open you eyes!" she announced with a flair that only Liza could bring to the occasion.

Opening his eyes, the normally unshakable Jack was thoroughly shaken. Before him stood two women he knew. But the camouflage and body armor clad woman in the middle, he did not. She looked like his apprentice at first glance but not quite. Slowly he stood from his chair and walked toward the strange woman in the center, speechless.

The green eyes that looked back at him looked exactly like Anya's. Clearly Liza's special contact lenses were effective. The white blonde hair that was now cut short just above the woman's shoulders was braided in twin French braids, just like Anya almost always wore hers in the field. Her skin looked tanned from hours spent outside for training and patrols.

Slowly the differences stood out. The softer features of his wife's more round facial shape in comparison to Anya's more angular cheekbones and jawline. Aly's small button nose in place of Anya's larger and slightly crooked nose. Her soft, plump, pink lips.

"Well? What do you think? You're starting to freak me out a little with all the staring," the drastically transformed Aly said, fidgeting with the shoulder strap of the body armor that Jack insisted be part of her disguise to provide extra protection.

"It's-," Jack started before he stuttered to a stop. He heard Liza and Anya snickering on his sides and glared at his apprentice, instantly silencing her.

He continued, still hesitantly, "It's different. It doesn't look like you at all."

"Well that's the whole point, silly," Liza said, patting Jack on the shoulder.

"Jack, you don't like it do you?" the woman who Jack was still unconvinced was his wife asked, feigning offense at his reaction.

His eyes snapped open wide as he entered into damage control mode. "No of course not! You look great! And just like Anya. Which is weird. Really weird. You just don't look like you," Jack said, looking his unfamiliarly adorned wife up and down.

Aly smiled up at him in the same way she always did. Now he could recognize her. Even though she looked almost nothing like herself, her body language, her smile, and even her scent all reminded him that it was still his wife as she stepped closer to him.

"It's me, babe. Trust me. Here, close your eyes and let me see your hands," she said, taking his large hands in her soft, gentle hands.

"When are people going to stop telling me to open and close my eyes?" Jack asked as a smile crept onto his face.

"Just close them, you butthead," Aly said, playfully thumping Jack on the chest before taking his hand in hers again.

Jack dutifully closed his eyes. He felt Aly lift his hands to her face. Gently placing his hands on her cheeks, she moved her hands to his forearms.

"Ok, feel," she said.

"What?" Jack asked without moving his hands or opening his eyes.

"Feel my face. It's me. And it will be me the whole time. By the time you get back, the makeup will be worn off. Then I'll take the contacts out and put my glasses back on. Liza will change my hair color back to normal and it'll be like none of this happened. Well, except for the foot and a half of hair we had to cut off, but that will come back eventually too. It's still me. So, go. Get your intel in the city and then come back to me. I promise I'll be safe. And I'll still be your Aly when you get back," she said, just barely above a whisper.

As Aly spoke, Jack let his fingers search over her face. Her full cheeks still felt like hers. Her widow's peak at her hairline, something Aly had always hated but Jack had always loved, was still there. Her nose felt the same, her lips and ears, all Aly's.

He trusted her. If she felt safe, if she thought this was a good idea, he believed her. He would carry out this new mission and then come home, hopefully to never put Aly at risk ever again.

As he held her face, he felt her fingers touch his face as well. She gently pulled him down and met him with a gentle kiss. He felt her plate carrier that was loaded down with rifle magazines touch his chest. Even in the kiss, it felt somehow both like her and not like her at all.

"Fine, I guess it is still you," he said, opening his eyes as she pulled away from the kiss.

Aly smirked confidently, putting a hand on her hip. "Well of course it is. To tell you the truth, I felt the same way when I looked at myself in the mirror."

"It's going to freak out the kids too," Jack said with a laugh.

Aly rolled her green eyes, "Yeah it is. But they'll get over it."

Jack looked her up and down one more time and raised an eyebrow, "You know though, you look pretty good dressed for battle."

His wife popped out her hip and shook her head in a way that would normally toss her hair if it wasn't held in tight braids, "Oh, is that so?"

Jack heard Anya make a gagging sound and walk out of the room, "Ew stop! It feels like watching your parents kiss. Come on Liza, let's get out of here."

Liza grinned and followed her friend out with a wave as Jack and Aly shared a laugh over his apprentice's obvious discomfort with their displays of affection.