Author's Note: So, it's my first Covert Affairs story. I was having a problem writing one, but I got this one out of my brain and I'm very happy about it :D Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Covert Affairs.

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Auggie did something unusual that day. He stopped by a local café and bought a cup of coffee. It was not unusual for him to drink such a beverage, but to actually stop and buy a cup was not commonplace. Indeed, the barista seemed impatient as he pulled his carefully folded money from his wallet. The college student who mixed his drink "ha-rumpf-ed" at his polite request for a cardboard insulator. Needless to say, his hand felt tingly until he finally received one. Auggie decided that it was best to sit outside, as the atmosphere inside seemed rather adverse to his presence. Before he got outside, however, he nicked someone's ankle with his cane.

"Ouch!"

"I'm terribly sorry about that." Auggie offered graciously in their direction. The person was obviously less than understanding.

"Watch where you're going!" they had hollered.

"I'll be sure to do that next time," he chirped sarcastically, smiling as if it were nothing. He distinctly heard them mumbling about his 'heinous' behavior as the door chime marked his exit. Finding a seat, he settled himself down near the street and listened to the traffic whooshing by and the light conversation on the outdoor patio.

"I called my husband and he said if we couldn't afford a swimming pool, what makes him think we could afford another kid? I swear sometimes-!" complained a middle-class mom who smelled of baby wipes.

" If life were so…. No…. if death were so….. NO!" mumbled a struggling poet.

"I love you, Sarah, please-!" and a distinctive click at the end of the line.

Auggie wondered if being blind made you a permanent eavesdropper. Did one have a choice? As he sipped on his coffee and pondered upon this, the air shifted and he felt someone joining him. He sat up, angling his head this way and that to hear any tell-tale noises.

" Hey there." Came the voice of a stranger, accompanied by the tittering of two, maybe three cohorts.

"Hello." Auggie replied, hand gripping his cane with a free hand. If this was a fight in the making, he would try to avoid it at all costs. The first voice sounded male, the others seemed to follow the same theme.

" Soooo, what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"Having a coffee. What about yourself?" He tried his hardest to remain cordial, but it was getting difficult with the oppressive sense of danger crackling in the air.

"Does it bother you?"

"Pardon?" Auggie asked, voiced clipped in annoyance. The stranger seemed to take a seat, because his voice was no longer coming from above his head.

"I mean, I would be annoyed with myself. Not being worth anything to society; Being a cripple. Not amounting to anything with my life all because of a mistake made by mother nature."

Auggie's eyes were squinting now, leering without sight. He supposed that it wasn't enough to feel inferior at times; he needed little street punks to come up and question his validity to society.

"If you want, my friends and I can put you to some use. Your lack of sight probably makes your sense of smell better. It could help with the cleaning up of dog shit from the sidewalk. Pity though, you might just step in it. Or you could-"

"I know I shouldn't be asking this, but is your plan to mug me, or just taunt me?"

"Either way, you're still not gonna get out of this scott-free." Something in his voice made Auggie leap out of his seat. He twisted his hand into the guy's shirt, hoisting him off of his feet to drew him close.

"Listen here, you little snot! I didn't go to Iraq with the intent of having my sight taken away from me, okay? Why don't you and your little friends do something constructive with your lives? Get jobs, get some respect, get a coffee- I don't care! Just get out of my face." Auggie dropped the kid, but it was not enough to deter him and his hooligan friends.

"Let's get this Ray Charles Mutha-fucka!" one of the others said and swung, landing a hit on Auggie's cheek. It seemed to them that they had the upper hand, but Auggie swung back around and knocked his first attacker flat on his back. The other cohort went for a gut shot and Auggie had dodged in an effort to get around the table. Meanwhile, the entire café was shifting back from the commotion while pushing forward to see more. This undulation of the crowd confused Auggie's senses as he headed towards it. He had to stop and really listen.

"Stop this fighting!" the manager of the coffee shop wailed, hands in the air as if it would help the matter. One of the little punks punched him in the collar bone.

"Just you and me, Stevie Wonder." The main boy's voice came, as the other was hit from behind with a college student's textbook. Auggie frowned, arched over like a caged, abused animal.

"I just told you I was in Special Forces in Iraq and you still want to punch me in the face? You're either high or stupid."

"Your skinny ass couldn't do anything to me."

"Make one false move and you're going to regret this. Walk away."

"I'm not afraid of you, dude." The kid scoffed at him, cracking his knuckles. Auggie could taste his own blood from where he bit his cheek. It was kind of refreshing to be roughed up again. Yet, it also left a sick feeling inside him. It reminded him that there were things he could and could not do now. As Auggie pondered, a tug came at his sleeve.

" Mister," came a sweet, lilting voice, full of fear though it was, " I found your stick." Auggie knelt down and took it from the little girl.

"Thank you. Go on inside before you get hurt out here." He made sure he heard her return to the pensive crowd before resuming his full height. Then, Auggie simply started to walk away. The punk was less than amused.

"You can't just walk away from a fight! I'm not done with you! I'll take you over my knee and break you! Come on, sucka! I'll-"

Just as Auggie passed, he nailed the guy right in the mouth, sending him falling backwards with a broken, gory face. With a smirk, he stepped over his fallen foe. The crowd seemed to disperse with mumbling conversation, brushing themselves off from the experience. The manager and the college student who hit his assailant with her book decided to drink a coffee together. The little girl was given a free muffin for her good deed.

Auggie got half way down the block before a hand fell on his shoulder. He grabbed the wrist and flipping the person's weight over him, he pinned them to the ground.

"Auggie!", Annie chocked, trying to get him to release the pressure on her windpipe. Auggie's hard expression softened.

"Annie?"

"Yeah, what the-?"

"I'm sorry. I just got-"

"No, no, I saw that. I'm asking what you are doing with your hand still on my neck." Auggie had not realized it, but he was crouching down beside her, still in a vice grip around her throat. Slowly he let go and helped her to standing.

"You saw me get into that fight?"

"Yes. What in the hell was their problem?"

Auggie shook his head, "My charm and good looks made them angry, I suppose." Annie smiled, nudging his shoulder playfully. He smiled too, but the blood from his wound colored his teeth light red.

" Oooh, Auggie, your mouth," she chided, turning his head this way and that by his chin. He swallowed hard, taking in the taste of copper and mischief thoroughly.

"They got me, I must admit."

"You didn't see them coming."

"Excuses, Excuses." Auggie hummed. She offered to take him home and make him some coffee. How could he refuse? So, an hour later, after she had assured herself that he was going to be okay, she made the java and poured two cups. Sitting at opposite ends of the couch, they drank in a comfortable silence.

" Mmmm, hooligan free," Auggie chanted with glee.

"I'm proud of you."

"For getting into a scuffle?"

"For walking away from a scuffle," Annie intoned her voice full of fondness. Auggie reached out his hand and she met it quietly, lacing their fingers together. It was nice to have Annie there after a crappy afternoon. This early evening company reminded him how being in a real relationship was, before everything went sour. Oh, Natasha, where did you go after you jumped off that train? Auggie wondered what he would do if he saw her again. He would have run away with her that night. But, something in her manner, the way she didn't answer him as he called her name that last time… she didn't want to be found.

"Auggie, are you alright?" His eyes seemed to snap back into reality and though they saw nothing, they looked about wildly.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You know I'm always here for you, Auggie. Right?"

"Of course I do." He smiled sweetly, but there was something morose behind it. Annie gave him a queer look.

"August Anderson, what are you thinking about?"

" Just….things….Why people have to pick on me."

"That's not true. You could care less about your disability. Half of the time, you crack wise about it. What's really wrong?" He set down his coffee and proceeded to lean his elbows on his knees. With head hung low, he sighed.

"I just don't know if I'll ever recover from Natasha." Annie made a noise of agreement.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get over my last relationship. We've just gotta take it a step at a time. Y'know?"

"I'm having a hard time doing it on my own…" he confessed, seeming to look up at her. Annie took in his fussy hair, his handsome face. For the first time, Auggie looked so hopeless, so blind. He never really looked this way before and Annie was taken aback. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her heart.

They could feel each other's heart beating. Auggie noted how fast the pair was palpitating as he draped his arms around her. He let his head rest atop hers, while she pressed her cheek to his chest. For a good while, they said nothing at all. Nothing needed to be said. Eventually, Annie fell asleep in his embrace, her rhythmic breathing the only clue to her state.

"Annie?" he whispered, jiggling her softly. She did not rouse, but shifted in her sleep. Auggie wondered, was she so comfortable with him that she'd fall asleep in his arms? This was such an unusual day, full of unexpected things. Auggie lifted her like a child and carried her to his bed. Luckily, he never made the damn thing and it was easy to cover her up and let her sleep.

"Auggie…?" she mumbled, still in her dreams. He knelt down next to her, one hand over hers.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Auggie smiled, ready to disregard her. But, she continued, unaware she was saying anything at all. " I'm not ready for love again…but when I am….I want it to be you…"

" I love you too, Annie." He said, lacing fingers with her again. After she was silent for a while, he wandered back to his coffee. The couch, as he sat, smelled of her. How had her subtle scent permeated his couch cushions so quickly? Yet, he found himself reclining, breathing it in like a drug. Did he love her?

He remembered what he said to her not days ago.

"My problem is I like you." Was it a problem? At the time, yes. She had gotten herself into some deep trouble and his infallible caring for her would have led him to do anything to save her. Then they'd both be out of the job.

Did Auggie have to get punched in the face just to realize that he loved someone? No, it wasn't that… it's the way she spoke with him, her tender touch. It was Annie. He loved her. And one day, when she was ready, he'd be there with a grin from ear to ear.

A cup of well-prepared coffee after a fight can do wonders for the human heart, thought Auggie.

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Thanks for reading! More Covert Affairs stories to come, hopefully :3

Sincerely,

DeMuerte