DISCLAIMER: I don't own Covert Affairs.

A/N: This is set after the season finale (3x16) and my take on what happens next (though it starts off with a trip down memory lane). I'm a huge fan of Annie-Auggie, so for those of you who aren't might want to read another FanFiction.


Chapter 1
A Heart to heart.

"Annie, hey, it's me...Auggie. You know, they guy that gave you a Corvette. Since I have your undivided attention, I'd like to share my thoughts about how Billy Collins' poetry is overrated and derivative. If you agree with this, say absolutely nothing...Yeah, the thing about this whole witty banter deal is it kinda takes two people. Otherwise it's just a guy by himself being incredibly clever...I miss you, Annie. I have for a long time. Things have been different between us since Barcelona, and it's all my fault. I've been, uh...closed off and distant, and...I can't tell you how sorry I am for that. I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you to wake up. I know you're not a traitor and right now you're the only one who can help me help you. I need you, Annie. I never need anyone. But I need you."

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"
"I clean up nicely don't I?"
"I'm not talking about the clothes. [kiss]. You should probably get upstairs."
"The song's not over yet. We could dance a little while longer."
"There's nothing I'd like more, but you and I both know this isn't our song. We'll dance again, Walker, but not until the music's right."
"Until then..."

"I need you to come home. There are things that I need to say to you face-to-face."

"Maybe she realized she likes you too."
"Too?"

"You got quiet all of a sudden."
"I know, I just...I want this to work."
"It will. I had a Sergeant in basic training. Mean son of a bitch, but he taught us one thing that really stuck with me. Going into battle is like blowing out a birthday candle."
"Okay, that doesn't help me, because I have no idea what it means."
"It means, don't overthink it. Put all the noisy thoughts out of your head. Close your eyes. Think about one positive thing that you want. Or one thing you love."

"We shove off in two minutes. If she isn't here, we meet up at the old church in Delft. She knows the protocol."
"But you wouldn't leave her."
"I'd
never leave her."

"Do you see any tulips?"
"Not this time of year."
"I'm gonna pretend there are tulips and windmills. One of the benefits of being blind. I can imagine the way things look any way I like."
"People too?"
"Of course. One of these days, I'll describe you to yourself. It's a hell of a parlor game."
"That's a plan."
"This plan, on the other hand, was risky. I wasn't sure you were gonna make it. I didn't like that feeling much."
"You were worried about me?"
"Yeah, I was worried."

"Then you didn't follow your Sergeant's advice."
"My Sergeant's advice didn't work. Because the person I was worried about and the positive thing I was thinking about are the same."

"Hey. You wanna grab a drink when we get back?"
"Sure. A beer at Allen's sounds good."
"I was thinking someplace nicer."
"Someplace nicer?"
"Friday night at eight?"
"Sure."


"Walker! You home?"
"You know we're not grabbing that beer until Friday, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. You know, ordinarily this is the moment where I'd make some quip about how I got on the wrong bus or taken the wrong turn at Albuquerque."
"What's going on?"
"I've been thinking about today. About our lives. There's nothing certain about what we do. There's nothing certain for people like us. Now, there's a conversation I've been hoping to have with you for a while now, but I've never found the right time to have it."
"What are you saying?"
"Timing's everything. I wanted to talk now, Annie."

"What do you want to talk about?"

She could see how he inched a little closer and before she could do or say anything, his hand was running up her side; his touch tender. She closed her eyes, just savoring the moment. Everything felt right, it was all falling into place and when their lips met, she thought about her dream when she had been unconscious, who they had shared a kiss there but in real life it was better than she could have ever imagined.
"I'm glad we're having this talk."

He smiled - and he looked genuinely happy - and then they were kissing again, deeply and more intense this time. He was embracing her and she reciprocated, hugging him closer to her. She did know how much time passed when they finally surfaced for air. He was stroking her cheek. She realized that she'd wanted this, for so long. She flashed back to Danielle's words about her caring for Auggie. Back then she had barely acknowledge those feelings for real, she had thought about bringing it up though, but it hadn't turned out exactly as she'd hoped. But now, she recalled the dream she'd had while unconscious, she should've realized what it had meant, but things had been so crazy since then that she hadn't gotten an opportunity.

"Are you okay," he whispered as he leaned forward, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Yeah, more than okay..." she replied.

"I guess that I just thought that action might speak louder than words," he said carefully.

"I know what you mean." she thought as she didn't know how to explain all the thoughts that were currently running through her head.

"I do still want to talk though," he let out a sigh, stroking back a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear, "oh, Annie...there's so much I want to say."

"We have time," she said.

She carefully guided him over to the little space by the window and they both sat down. They sat in silence for a while, then he grabbed her hand and held it tightly in his. The only thing she could think was that she wanted to stay in this moment forever.

"Talk to me," she whispered, squeezing his hand in encouragement.

"I don't really know where to begin, but...things just spiraled out of hand so quickly."

"It's okay, I'm here. Just talk to me Auggie."

"First, I wanted to say that I'm sorry, I know that things changed between us in Barcelona. I know that I snapped at you and that was wrong, and then...what you said at the hotel room -"

"Oh, Auggie, I'm the one who's sorry about that; it wasn't any of my business."

"No, yeah well I mean, it got me thinking. After I left you at the airport, I went over to the ticket counter to buy my ticket to Eritrea. I admit, I was a little irritated, I could sense your hesitation when you saw the ring and considering what you said at the hotel, well it got me thinking...the whole plane ride down I just felt confused and then angry..."

She swallowed, she knew that she'd overstepped back then, but something had felt so wrong, it wasn't that she'd had feelings for Auggie back then, but the thought of him being with someone else, talking about someone else that way and wondering whether he was good enough, it had made her angry. Who was this Parker who had him question himself, he was perfect.

"I guess that when I arrived in Eritrea, after having spent the whole plane ride thinking about what you'd said and also about you...well, I just wanted to put you behind me and I shrugged it all off and went to propose."

He stopped and turned towards her and even though she knew that he wasn't able to see her, it felt as though he was really seeing her.
"I'm sorry..." she repeated.

"Don't be." he said firmly, "I have to admit though, I was really happy when she said yes, I wasn't sure she was going to. But then when everything unraveled in Eritrea and I had to tell her about me being CIA, it felt wrong somehow, I could sense how she reacted and it wasn't good. But I just put it behind me, ignoring it and when we got back I acted as though things were normal. And then you reassigned with Lena...why did you?"

She took a deep breath before she answered.

"I don't know, things were kind of crazy for me too I guess...it felt like I'd lost you, things with Joan didn't feel all that good, and I just wanted a change and Lena, well she made me feel really good about everything. Plus, you got reassigned too."

"I know..." he felt bad that he'd made her feel that way, but to be honest, he hadn't cared all that much, he'd put up a wall towards Annie, like he wanted to push her away, if only a little bit, in order to keep things with Parker in check. He should've seen the warning signs! "Then, the inevitable happened, in a way I wasn't that surprised but it still hurt like hell when she left me...she just rushed out and I couldn't see, I couldn't stop her..." he paused.

Her heart constricted as she could picture him broken hearted and helpless, she inched herself closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. It must have been hard for him and she hadn't even been there to support him. What kind of friend had she been?

"Then I got into that bar fight at Allen's..."

Oh, that explained things; she hadn't really had much time when all of that had happened. She had been knee-deep in the whole Simon mission. She cringed as she remembered it. Now, it all felt like time wasted, well almost all of it.

"We both got back under Joan's purview and you got assigned the mission of bringing Simon in," he said it carefully, not wanting to upset her, he could feel her tense for a second but continued when she seemed okay. "Then things just ended so weirdly, I was upset..."

"I'm sorry for what I did, breaking the audio connection."

"Well, honestly...I think that's when I started to realize that it bothered me, bothered me that you liked him..."

She looked at him in surprise, really? That's why he'd been so distant?

"Then you know how I felt when you told me about Parker and the engagement," she said, deciding that he had the right to know that her feelings hadn't surfaced tonight. In fact, she had a lot of things to tell him too.

"Really?" he looked surprised; she could see his eyebrows shooting up.

"Yeah...she had you doubt you were good enough, when I knew that you were kinda...well, perfect."

"That I am," he replied and she chuckled as she nudged him with her shoulder. Leave it up to Auggie to be witty in a moment like this.

"Then you were shot..." his face turned stone serious and she herself felt a little chill.

"That's when I really realized that I...felt like this."

She recalled her unconscious dream, he hadn't been the only one realizing feelings that night, she just hadn't really reflected upon it, until now.

"I sat by you and I just wanted you to wake up...actually a nurse told me to talk to you," he looked towards her, and she looked back at him, knowing that whatever he was about to say, he wanted her attention "I told you Annie...that I needed you even though I don't ever need anyone. Or didn't…I need you, Annie."

She felt her heart constrict again, but this time it was out of happiness, she could feel tears well up in her eyes, she knew that this was special. Auggie wasn't the one for flaunting affectionate confessions like this. She carefully placed her hands on either side of his face, pulling him closer and then their lips were on each other's yet again.

"I actually had, some sort of dream then too...about you," she confessed.

"Oh?" he looked incredulous, as if he didn't believe her, but curiosity soon flickered across his face.

"Yeah, we were on some sort of mission at this fancy hotel, you were wearing a tux and I had this ball gown. We went into a ball room and we danced. In the middle of the room, we stopped and we kissed. I wanted to keep dancing, but you said that I had to go upstairs, but that we'd dance again, when the timing was right."

For once she was a little happy that he couldn't see her, she could feel herself blushing.
He just smiled at her.

"When you were in Russia, I could feel you slip away, I was scared that you were going of the rail and I just wanted you to come back to me. I needed to say all those things. I had thought about telling you after the accident, but I was confused and unsure, I didn't know what you felt and all the things with Simon, I wanted to give you space. But when you were there, I just knew that I had to tell you."

"I think that phone call's what made me keep my head in the game, you've saved me so many times Auggie and I'm grateful for what you pulled off with Eyal."

"My pleasure," he reassured, "but um, can I ask...how do you feel? Well, obviously, you didn't run screaming after I kissed you tonight, but do you..." he didn't know how to proceed and maybe - if he was going to be totally honest - he was a little worried about her answer.

"I feel...like this is right, I don't really know what else to say just yet." she said, hoping not to disappoint him, there were just so many thoughts, she might need a moment, later, alone.

"That's okay," he said putting an arm around her, holding her.

"But actually...I've thought about you, before. Not really, like this maybe, but I've had thoughts that I'd wanted to explore."

"Yeah, how come you've never told me?" he couldn't really believe it, she'd thought about him before? It felt good knowing, it felt really good.

"It was Danielle who made me realize it then. We were on that mission in Stockholm and we'd just talked, and she told me that I cared about you, like really care about you. At first I was, well a little defensive but I didn't deny it either. When I asked how she could tell, she said that my voice changed whenever I was on the phone with you." she smiled as she recalled the memory. When she looked at him, he was smiling brightly too.

"Have you any idea how happy that makes me?" he whispered.

"Yeah, I think I do," because that's exactly how I feel, she thought." And I did want to tell you and I thought about saying something, or at least ask you to have a beer with me, that time that I found you in your Corvette."

"Really?" he shrugged; he remembered how he'd announced him going to Eritrea. Had he actually had a chance back then? Could that have prevented Annie getting shot and the whole Russia episode? "I wasn't really myself then either, I had just gotten so bad news about this medical trial, I thought that maybe there was a slight chance of me getting my sight back but well..." he stopped, not really sure how to end the sentence.

"Oh Auggie, I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"I know, and it's fine, really."

They spent a long time, him with his arms wrapped around her and her just leaning on him, feeling like things were finally settling.

Hours might have passed, she wasn't sure, but somehow the silence didn't bother her.

"You look very sharp by the way," she said, realizing that she hadn't told him yet, but she'd thought it the moment he stepped into the guest house. Though the word sharp, had come to mind, so had a few other ones, like handsome and even sexy.

He chuckled.

"Thank you."

She yawned. She didn't know what time it was, but it had been a long day and this evening well, it had brought with it a few surprises, to say the least. But she felt content, and lighter somehow. She smiled.

"You tired?" he asked.

She nodded, but didn't want him to leave, but on the other hand she felt like she might need some time to think all of this through. But if she let him go, maybe things would be weird tomorrow? She felt confused.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No, not really...but."

"You need some time?"

She looked to him, searching for his eyes in the dark; she didn't want him to get the wrong idea. She did care for him, a lot! She was sure of that, but just a little while to herself.

"It's okay Annie," he reassured as he stepped up.

She stood up too, his arms were around her and she relaxed, he didn't seem disappointed. He kissed her on the top of her head. She took his hand carefully and walked him over to the door.

"Thank you," he said at the door, "it feels good now and take your time, alright, no pressure."

"Thank you." she was still holding his hand, "I just need tonight, okay?"

"Of course, Annie." he said tenderly, "I'm here for you whenever you're ready."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yes, see you tomorrow."

They embraced one last time, as he went out towards the street, she was about to call after him, wondering whether he was going to wait for a cab, in that case he could wait inside. But even though she sort of felt empty now that he wasn't there, she knew that she needed to be alone. She walked back into her room and laid down on the bed.

She knew that she really felt something for Auggie, she had maybe for a long time and Simon wasn't really an issue, he'd be with her, but as a memory of something that was already starting to feel distant.

She tensed when she remembered the earlier part of tonight, the file that Henry Wilcox had shown her, could she really do it now? Did she really want to? Would she tell Auggie? She stopped, she was getting ahead of herself, and she didn't care about Henry right now. She closed her eyes and remembered all the time that Auggie had been there for her, how much she'd appreciated his help throughout the years, he was her constant and she knew how she could always count on him. Her phone buzzed on the night stand, she grabbed it.

Auggie A.
01:37 AM
I hope tonight wasn't too much. I know
we didn't cover everything tonight, I
didn't ask you about Danielle. But I
meant what I said; I'm here whenever
you're ready Annie. As your friend or
whatever you want me to be.

Yours/A.

She smiled, it felt so good reading all of that and she knew, that something that could feel this good, it couldn't be bad, could it?