This silly little story was kind of inspired by the 2nd chapter of the story "Kismet" by Take this to Heart (the part where Annie talks about hating to live in a safe house). It sort of popped in to my head after reading that. The initial thought is that it's a one-shot, but you never know where my imagination might go.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything Covert Affairs.

-Perks-

After a few weeks at the safe house Annie was kind of hating the fact that no one could know where she lived; especially after the incident with Chloe's artwork while she was in Berlin. Danielle still hadn't forgiven her for that. She was also sick of sleeping on a damn futon and living out of boxes. It was becoming clear to her that she needed to get the process of finding a real place to live started. She'd been postponing it because she was still hoping that Danielle would let her move back in to the guesthouse, but she was starting to realize that that wasn't happening.

The fact that she couldn't have company over was the thing she hated the most. She didn't have that many visitors when she lived in her sisters guest house, but Danielle, Michael and the girls were usually around, so she was rarely alone. The first couple of weeks she'd enjoyed the solitude, but it was getting on her nerves. She'd thought she'd at least be able to have someone from the agency over, like Auggie, but absolutely no one could know where she lived.

All of a sudden she had an idea. She glanced towards Auggie's office. He was alone. She quickly got up and made her way there. As she entered she made sure that both sliding doors were closed so they could have a private conversation.

"Annie Walker, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he swiveled his chair toward her and flashed her a bright smile.

"I just had an idea…" Annie started eagerly.

"Uh-oh, why do I have a feeling I'm not gonna like this?" Auggie didn't always appreciate Annie's ideas.

"Wanna come over to my house for a pizza and some beers after work?"

"Annie, you know I can't. It's a safe house; you know the protocol. I thought we already had this conversation," he replied firmly, sounding slightly exasperated.

"Yeah yeah, no one can know the location blah blah blah… Come on Augs, if I don't actually tell you where it is you'll have no idea, it's not like you can see for yourself."

Auggie looked genuinely shocked for a second, before a teasing smirk was plastered across his face. "Annie, you wanna take advantage of my disability to have some company over? You never cease to surprise me, that's for sure!"

"Hey, having a blind best friend has some perks." She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"It's still a no-go Annie. I could be both blind and deaf and it wouldn't matter. Protocol is protocol."

"Oh come one Auggie, don't be such a killjoy. I'm going crazy from spending lonely nights on my futon in the company bad movies and microwave dinners, I kind of feel like I'm back in college, just without the annoying roommate and parties. I promise I won't reveal anything about the location to you, I'll even drive around a bit to make sure you're disoriented."

"Oh, now you're really making and argument for it. I just love being disoriented and not having a clue about where I am," he said sarcastically, shaking his head.

"Auggie…. " Annie pleaded.

"Sorry. You know I can't. If you want company you're welcome to come over to my place or I'll go with you to wherever you want."

"It's not the same Auggie and you know it. Not that I don't appreciate the offer."

Annie let a heavy sigh escape and started walking towards the door.

"Oh well, I'll just head back to my very boring translation, which I will hopefully finish by the end of the century, then I'll go 'home' to the safe house and enjoy a delicious nuked dinner and watch some crap on TV all by myself."

"Annie…" Auggie stood and called after her, but before he could say something else the door slid shut behind her.

He sat back down and leaned back in his chair, while letting out a deep breath and shaking his head. He'd noticed the change in Annie's mood lately; she was constantly beating herself up if she made even small mistakes on missions or if something that was really out of her control happened. He knew she missed her sister, nieces and brother-in-law and having spent a few months living in a safe house himself he knew what she was going through. Part of him wanted to tell Annie he'd come home with her, after all she was right; if she didn't reveal anything about the area he'd be totally oblivious to location. Still, protocol was protocol and he knew that if someone found out both he and Annie would be in big trouble.

What Annie needed was an apartment, a real one. Something she's said after she came back from Venice a few weeks back had given him the feeling that she probably wasn't looking for a place to live at all, that she was still hoping for Danielle to let her move back in. He needed to have a talk with Annie, a real talk. He grabbed his laser cane and headed for her desk, as he got closer he could hear her typing and the sound revealed that Annie was not at all happy. She seemed to take it out on the space bar when she was upset.

"Annie, we need to talk." Auggie said as he perched himself on the corner of her desk.

"Really Auggie? About what?" Annie snapped while she kept typing and didn't bother to look up at Auggie.

"Not here, my office." He located and grabbed her arm and pulled her with him back to Tech Ops. He found the extra chair in the corner and pulled it out and motioned for Annie to sit in it and went back and closed the door firmly.

"What the hell Auggie? What's this about?"

"Are you even looking for a place to stay? A real place?"

"Well, it's not easy. I've been trying…" she sounded kind of insecure, hesitant. He knew she wasn't telling the truth.

"Really? Are you sure you're not just stalling, hoping for Danielle to let you move back in?"

"And what exactly makes you think that?" The tone of her voice told Auggie he'd hit the nail on the head. He shook his head with a smile.

"I thought you said you were top of your class in deception training. If you're the best I sure hope most of your class ended up behind desks here at Langley."

That last comment earned him a not-so-gentle punch on the arm.

"OW! What was that for?"

"Being a smartass."

"Seriously though Annie. If you're so miserable in that safe house you need to set the wheels in motion and find a place. The process takes a few weeks, first finding a place and then having it vetted by the agency. The sooner you get on with it the better."

Annie sighed, she knew Auggie was dead on; she was hoping that Danielle would let her move back in to the guesthouse.

"As always, you're right. How do you do that?"

"Just a talent of mine, it's another perk of having me as a best friend. So there you have two. One; I'm blind as a bat. Two; I always know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours. Here comes number three; I'm a killer at apartment hunting."

"Sure…" Annie didn't sound convinced.

"No, really. Or, truth to be told; my brother works in real estate and has some connections. He owes me one. I'll call him if you'd like."

"Your brother lives here in DC? I thought all of your family lived in Illinois."

"Well, he lives in Northbrook, but he has connections at the DC branch of the company he works for. He worked there a few years ago, but moved back to Illinois when he was promoted to head of their Chicago office."

"I'm not looking to buy a place though, there's no way I could afford that."

"They do rentals too. You want me to make a call?"

"Thanks Auggie. You're right; I really need to start looking for a real apartment."

"That you do Miss Walker. I'll call him and I'll let you know when I have something for you. What's your budget and requirements?"

Annie gave Auggie a quick run down of what she was looking for and he promised to call his brother later and have him see what he could come up with.

"I don't deserve you Auggie. Thank you." She kissed him gently on the cheek before heading back to her desk, leaving Auggie with an astonished look on his face for a few seconds before he managed to compose himself and get back to work. There was some perks to having Annie Walker as a best friend too.