diff --git a/src/agents/subagent-announce-queue.ts b/src/agents/subagent-announce-queue.ts
index d7510b3f5..228cc9fc8 100644
--- a/src/agents/subagent-announce-queue.ts
+++ b/src/agents/subagent-announce-queue.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { type QueueDropPolicy, type QueueMode } from "../auto-reply/reply/queue.js";
+import { FOLLOWUP_QUEUES } from "../auto-reply/reply/queue/state.js";
 import { defaultRuntime } from "../runtime.js";
 import {
   type DeliveryContext,
@@ -13,6 +14,27 @@ import {
   waitForQueueDebounce,
 } from "../utils/queue-helpers.js";
 
+/**
+ * Fix 2v2: Wait for the followup queue (user messages) to finish draining
+ * before processing announce items. This ensures user messages are always
+ * handled before sub-agent announcements in the per-session lane.
+ *
+ * Uses polling (100ms interval) with a 30s timeout to avoid deadlocks.
+ */
+async function waitForFollowupQueueIdle(key: string, timeoutMs = 30_000): Promise<void> {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
+  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+    const fq = FOLLOWUP_QUEUES.get(key);
+    if (!fq || (fq.items.length === 0 && !fq.draining && fq.droppedCount === 0)) {
+      return;
+    }
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
+  }
+  defaultRuntime.error?.(
+    `announce drain: followup queue yield timeout for ${key} (${timeoutMs}ms)`,
+  );
+}
+
 export type AnnounceQueueItem = {
   prompt: string;
   summaryLine?: string;
@@ -89,6 +111,8 @@ function scheduleAnnounceDrain(key: string) {
       let forceIndividualCollect = false;
       while (queue.items.length > 0 || queue.droppedCount > 0) {
         await waitForQueueDebounce(queue);
+        // Fix 2v2: Yield to followup queue — user messages always go first.
+        await waitForFollowupQueueIdle(key);
         if (queue.mode === "collect") {
           if (forceIndividualCollect) {
             const next = queue.items.shift();
diff --git a/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts b/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts
index 444726efc..13fd26411 100644
--- a/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts
+++ b/src/agents/subagent-announce.ts
@@ -413,32 +413,36 @@ export async function runSubagentAnnounceFlow(params: {
       return true;
     }
 
-    // Send to main agent - it will respond in its own voice
-    let directOrigin = requesterOrigin;
-    if (!directOrigin) {
+    // Fix 2v2: Always enqueue announces — never send directly to the gateway.
+    // This eliminates race conditions where a direct callGateway("agent")
+    // bypasses queue ordering and gets processed before user messages that
+    // are still in the dispatch pipeline. The announce queue's debounce
+    // (default 1000ms) provides a timing buffer, and the drain's followup-
+    // queue yield check ensures user messages are always processed first.
+    {
+      const cfg = loadConfig();
+      const canonicalKey = resolveRequesterStoreKey(cfg, params.requesterSessionKey);
       const { entry } = loadRequesterSessionEntry(params.requesterSessionKey);
-      directOrigin = deliveryContextFromSession(entry);
+      const queueSettings = resolveQueueSettings({
+        cfg,
+        channel: entry?.channel ?? entry?.lastChannel,
+        sessionEntry: entry,
+      });
+      const origin = resolveAnnounceOrigin(entry, requesterOrigin);
+      enqueueAnnounce({
+        key: canonicalKey,
+        item: {
+          prompt: triggerMessage,
+          summaryLine: taskLabel,
+          enqueuedAt: Date.now(),
+          sessionKey: canonicalKey,
+          origin,
+        },
+        settings: queueSettings,
+        send: sendAnnounce,
+      });
+      didAnnounce = true;
     }
-    await callGateway({
-      method: "agent",
-      params: {
-        sessionKey: params.requesterSessionKey,
-        message: triggerMessage,
-        deliver: true,
-        channel: directOrigin?.channel,
-        accountId: directOrigin?.accountId,
-        to: directOrigin?.to,
-        threadId:
-          directOrigin?.threadId != null && directOrigin.threadId !== ""
-            ? String(directOrigin.threadId)
-            : undefined,
-        idempotencyKey: crypto.randomUUID(),
-      },
-      expectFinal: true,
-      timeoutMs: 60_000,
-    });
-
-    didAnnounce = true;
   } catch (err) {
     defaultRuntime.error?.(`Subagent announce failed: ${String(err)}`);
     // Best-effort follow-ups; ignore failures to avoid breaking the caller response.
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner.ts
index 227e6f17e..f03fd4027 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,12 @@ import { appendUsageLine, formatResponseUsageLine } from "./agent-runner-utils.j
 import { createAudioAsVoiceBuffer, createBlockReplyPipeline } from "./block-reply-pipeline.js";
 import { resolveBlockStreamingCoalescing } from "./block-streaming.js";
 import { createFollowupRunner } from "./followup-runner.js";
-import { enqueueFollowupRun, type FollowupRun, type QueueSettings } from "./queue.js";
+import {
+  enqueueFollowupRun,
+  scheduleFollowupDrain,
+  type FollowupRun,
+  type QueueSettings,
+} from "./queue.js";
 import { createReplyToModeFilterForChannel, resolveReplyToMode } from "./reply-threading.js";
 import { persistSessionUsageUpdate } from "./session-usage.js";
 import { incrementCompactionCount } from "./session-updates.js";
@@ -510,5 +515,9 @@ export async function runReplyAgent(params: {
   } finally {
     blockReplyPipeline?.stop();
     typing.markRunComplete();
+    // Fix 3: Ensure queued followup messages are drained even on error paths.
+    // Without this, messages enqueued in FOLLOWUP_QUEUES can get stuck if an
+    // exception is thrown before any finalizeWithFollowup() call is reached.
+    scheduleFollowupDrain(queueKey, runFollowupTurn);
   }
 }