The usual disclaimer: I don't own or have more than fan interest in Covert Affiars or it's primary characters.


On Wednesday morning, Annie and Auggie walked into Langley together – nothing new about that. What was new was the ring on the third finger of Annie's left hand. And the slight nervousness that she felt. She had no idea if her and Auggie's boss would approve or condemn their engagement. She knew that Auggie had been given the green light over a year ago to pursue a relationship with her, and no one had said anything since about them being together, but marriage could upset the dynamics of the department. Would she still be allowed to do what she'd come to love doing despite its inherent danger – field work?

She paused for a moment before the door into Auggie's office. He let go of her arm and moved toward the door. As soon as his hand was on the door, Annie took the remaining steps to her desk quickly and hurriedly settled into her chair. Before she could boot up her computer, the phone on her desk rang.

"Walker," she answered as she punched the button to turn on her desktop. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be right there."

She took a deep breath and headed off toward Joan's office. The door was open when she arrived and she entered without knocking. Joan was sitting reading an open file on the desk in front of her. She did not look up when she told Annie to take a seat. There was a file on the desk across from one of the chairs. Annie sat and picked up the file and began to read it.

"How close to the Anderson's house was the damage from the tornado on Monday?" Joan asked without looking up from the file. Annie was surprised at the question, but did not allow herself to react to it, even though she did wonder how Joan knew of the storm.

"Very close. They sustained some damage and the house next door was heavily damaged," Annie replied unemotionally. "It was a bit hairy there for a bit, but all are okay."

"That's good. Are you ready for a mission?" Joan's tone was normal for her.

"Yes, ma'am," Annie replied eagerly. "I'm always ready. When will I be leaving?"

"Not until tomorrow. That will give you time to catch up with the mission's details and some background on the principals."

"Joan, can I talk to you for a minute about something else?"

Joan paused in her perusal of the file, and looked up. "Is this something serious?"

"In a way it might be for you," Annie stated evenly. "Over the weekend Auggie asked me to marry him and I said yes."

"So he finally got around to it. I'm happy for the both of you. For the time being it will have little effect on your work. Auggie will still be your primary handler on missions. I'm not going to break up a good team just yet. Have you set a date yet?" The faintest hint of a smile graced the otherwise stoic look of Joan Campbell.

"No ma'am. Didn't want to do that until we knew for sure the Company would approve of us marrying."

"Go ahead and set the date. The Company will not interfere. Any questions about the mission?"

"No, ma'am. I'll let you know if I do once I get into the details. Thanks."

As Annie rose to leave Joan stopped her by asking, "Can I see the ring he gave you?"

"Of course," Annie replied as she extended her left hand toward her boss.

"Wow! He has great taste," Joan said.

"More like his mother does. It was rather spur of the moment that he asked and he was unprepared for me to say yes. It was a ring of his mother's and she gave it to him to give to me. It's a replica of the ring Prince Charles gave to Diana and then Prince William gave to Kate Middleton last year."

"You understand that you may not be able to wear it on some missions."

"Yes, both Auggie and I are aware of that. It will not be a problem."

"Okay. I'll let you get back to work now." Joan turned her attention back to the file on her desk.

Annie rose from her seat and left the office. She headed to Auggie's office.

As she opened the sliding doors Auggie turned his head toward the sound. "Annie, what brings you here so soon?"

"Got some information that you might be interested in," Annie offered as she crossed the room. Her tone and walk were even, belying the excitement she actually felt.

"What?" Auggie looked nervous; unsettled.

Annie came close and leaned in to whisper, "I just had the strangest mission briefing with Joan. At the end I told her about us. She said to set the date. Nothing's changing in the immediate future."

"Good," Auggie whispered back. "I was a little worried. They screwed me once. I was waiting for them to do it again. This time I would walk out the door and not look back."

"I'd be right behind you," Annie reassured. "Joan didn't appear to be surprised at all, though."

"She wasn't?" Auggie was genuinely surprised.

"No. Said that she'd been expecting it for a while."

"Guess we weren't as discrete as we thought we were being. Oh, well. Doesn't matter now." He smiled broadly and turned his attention back to the file on his desk.

Annie stood up straight and glanced at Stu. He had a questioning look on his face. When he knew that he had Annie's attention he pointed to the ring finger on his left hand. Annie flashed him her left hand. He smiled and gave her two thumbs up. She gave him a coy grin as she turned to head out the door. Before she closed the door behind her, Annie heard Auggie ask Stu, "Okay, Stu, what was that exchange between you and Annie all about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she heard Stu reply as the door banged shut.

As much as she would have liked to crack the door and listen to the rest of that conversation, Annie knew that she had to get back to her desk and do her homework for tomorrow's mission.

As soon as he heard the door open and Annie step through it, Auggie turned to Stu, "Okay, Stu, what was that exchange between you and Annie all about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Stu replied reticently.

Auggie swiveled his desk chair around and looked pointedly in Stu's direction. "Don't BS me, Stuart. I heard something going on. Now spill."

"Fine," Stu said with a huff. "I just gestured to ask Annie to show me her left hand and I gave her two thumbs up at the ring you gave her. At least I'm assuming that it was you who asked her to marry him this weekend. We've been expecting it for a while now."

"I did," Auggie replied with a smile. "You've been expecting me to ask Annie to marry me?" Auggie asked incredulously. He thought that he and Annie had been so discrete in being with each other in the office.

"Yeah. You may have tried to be discrete in your courting here in the office, but everyone knew it was getting serious." Stu seemed reluctant to admit that.

"Was there a pool?" There was almost always a pool for things like this – engagements, breakups, and babies – always a pool for the day and time of a baby's birth.

"Yeah."

"Who won?" Auggie was hoping that it was at least someone from the DPD and not one of the other floors; especially no one from the administration floor.

"What day did you propose?"

"Sunday morning."

"Then I did." Stu's voice showed that he was very pleased to admit that.

"What day did you have?"

"I had Sunday; Joan had Saturday."

"Joan was in the pool?"

"In it? Hell, she started it!" Stu exclaimed with a bit of a chuckle.

"You're kidding, Right?" Auggie had never heard of Joan wagering on something so frivolous

"Nope. Joan started the pool on when you'd ask Annie to marry you. There was one on when you'd move in together, but that one expired long ago with no winner. Most of us figured you for the marrying kind, not the shacking up kind."

"How much did you win?"

"Six hundred."

"We couldn't keep us a secret, but you could keep a pool of that substance quiet?' Auggie asked with genuine surprise. Usually he had the scoop on everything going on in the departments at Langley. But with a pot that big, and depending on him to do something unpredictable, Auggie guessed it would be mandatory to keep him in the dark, so to speak.

"Yeah, I guess," Stu replied.

"Congratulation on the money, Stu. I'll be expecting an awesome wedding gift," Auggie joked.

"Congratulations to you, too, Auggie." Auggie believed that he meant that, but there was also a tinge of jealousy there, too.


It's short, but to the point. Comments welcomed, but not expected.