3A/N: Idea I had late at night that struck me when I read through my idea book. Please, enjoy! Also, I advise if you want to ever learn about being blind, visit www. dialogueinthedark . com. Best experience ever. (I went in Jan. '09) No beta, so if you see a mistake, PLEASE let me know!
Word Count: 983
Disclaimers: I don't own any rights to the premise or characters.
Summary: After a particularly gruesome mission, Annie returns to D.C. to find Auggie asleep at his desk having been with her every step of the way.
Annie entered the DPD and took in the stale smell of day old coffee and ink toner. Rolling her eyes at the repugnant smell, she shuffled over to her desk and glanced around. At four A.M., the department was a ghost town with an occasional piece of shredded classified material littering the pristine carpet. She slowly let out a breath, her mind still reeling from the mission she barely completed almost four hours ago.
It had been a routine "sweet talk an asset into trusting you" mission, one that she had a specific knack for. It was at a small bistro, the evening sunset blanketing the customers around them. Just as she sat down with the asset, a balding Columbian man with a nice showing of rotted black teeth, all hell broke loose. One minute she's ordering, the next minute the waiter is staring up at her, leaking blood all over her cocktail dress and staring up from her lap glassy-eyed and limp.
The asset, now clearly spooked with a maniacal gleam in his eyes, sprinted to the door just as a bullet hit his first and second vertebrae, severing his spine. Bonelessly, he collapsed into a heap of flesh only meters from the door.
Annie, too stunned to think beyond self-preservation, dived under the small table, while glass and people shattered all around her. Auggie, who was monitoring the asset meeting via phone, emitted shouts that couldn't seem to drown out the sudden and all encompassing silence.
"-nnie! Annie! Answer me! Are you hurt? What's happening? Annie! Ann-"
"Auggie…" Her voice, weak with shock, sounded pitiful even to her hazy brain.
A breath. Then, "Annie, you need to tell me what happened. First, are you hurt?" Auggie's voice, now calm and no longer radiating panic, crackles through her ear set shocking her brain back to processing.
"Um… yes, yes, I'm alright, Auggie. Um, there were shots, like from a semi-automatic and-" a child whimpers somewhere to the left of Annie and her throat constricts. "Oh, God Auggie…"
"Are you safe Annie? Annie, are you safe? We need to get you out of there. Are you safe to stay where you are so backup can come and get you?"
Annie glanced around surreptitiously, trying not to catch any glazed over eyes.
"I-I think so. There are bodies everywhere…" She took a swallow, focusing on her training, "And no recon team sent in so…" Even trying her hardest, Annie's eyes seem to gravitate towards the pools of blood that are seeping from the bodies upon bodies and intermingling with other pools…
Everything blurs after that, shock taking over her body and her nerves fried to the breaking point. Auggie assured Annie that backup was on its way. The only thing that Annie held on to during the eternity it took for backup to arrive was Auggie's litany that dispelled the silence. His soothing voice rambled about everything, from new software coming out to childhood memories. Nothing was censored. He didn't go near anything gruesome or sad, which Annie was grateful for. However, she did hear a little too much information about something to do with frogs, Auggie's brothers' boxers, and itching powder. Annie cringed at the mental image.
And now here she was at the DPD, blood streaking her face and Persian blue cocktail dress, runs in her hose, and no shoes. She had a change of clothes in her locker, but now that she was sitting down, safe and at her desk, her body was flooded with a bone deep exhaustion and she couldn't seem to get through any demands.
Continuing her listless trek around the office with her gaze, Annie spotted a single light up the stairs near Auggie's office through the dim night lighting. Exhaustion pushed aside, Annie got to her feet and padded up the stairs towards the beacon of light. What she saw made her pause.
Auggie sat in his chair, slumped over on his keyboard, arm curled around his head. His earphones hung helter-skelter off his ears, curls tickling his arm and obscuring his eyes. His other arm was stretched mid motion toward a half empty coffee mug, his fingers lightly hooked on the handle. A frown creased his features and he mumbled an inaudible word every now and then.
He had been waiting up for her, Annie realized, her mouth quirking a smile. Smothering her elation for her handler who cared so much, she walked closer to the sleeping man.
"Auggie," she shook him gently. "You're going to get a cramp if you stay like that."
"Hm? 'nnie?" came the slurred reply. Lifting his head and blinking like a sleepy cat, he broke into a huge grin. "Annie! I assume you're back in one piece," His eyes wandered the vicinity of her body while his nose sniffed the air. "With 'O de Sanguine'. What happened to your Jo Malone Grapefruit?"
Annie playfully shoved his shoulder. "What happened to sleeping in a bed?"
Auggie's face turned mock serious. "I'm getting paid overtime. That way I can buy a new bench press for my apartment. Gotta stay buff for any potential lady, you know." He said with an air of self-righteousness and his mouth quirked upwards.
"Auggie!" Annie scolded, but couldn't help the smile that graced her lips. "You might want to get rid of the Braille imprints on your face first, Hugh Hefner."
"You're comparing Hugh Hefner with me?" Auggie huffed, pretending to be horrified while scrubbing his face. Catching him off guard, Annie leaned down and hugged him.
"Thank you… for not leaving me out there alone," she whispered, his curls tickling her nose.
Auggie smiled softly and rubbed her back in circles. "You owe me a round of beers. And not that cheap light beer. The real stuff." Annie laughed and pushed herself out of their embrace, lightly skipping out of his reach.
"You're welcome," he whispered.