Hello, again. I was so pleased with the way that Of Friends and Enemies turned out that I wanted to write a little sequel to it. As I said before, I cannot claim ownership to Covert Affairs and I hope you enjoy this story.

Upgrades for Friendship

As Annie made her way down the halls towards the tech department, she had several thoughts rolling around in her head like an angry ocean. She had decided to listen to Jai's advice, but she soon realized that it would not be easy.

She felt like she was ready to finally let Auggie in, but he had his own troubles. She knew that there was no way he was over Natasha and the scam with Liza Hearn… that was a whole different story.

However, despite all of her reservations, she pushed herself on. After all, she knew that the feelings she had for Auggie were far more than platonic. He was more than her best friend, it was impossible to deny that. Jai had helped her accept that.

When she left the room after speaking with Jai, she had felt like a door had been opened and she could finally see what was in front of her. It was beyond ridiculous how clueless she'd been.

She loved Auggie. She knew it. It was time to let him know, as well.

She tried to work out the stomach-clenching nervousness at the prospect of what she was about to do. It wouldn't be easy and Annie knew that.

By the time she reached tech ops, her stomach had more knots than a sailboat. The door slid open and she knew Auggie noticed her presence. Before she stepped in, he'd been leaning forward at his desk, running his fingers over the Braille keyboard before him. When she walked in, he sat up and tilted his head slightly in her direction.

"Hello, Annie. Enjoying the morning?"

He greeted her with a smirk. He knew she didn't particularly care for mornings and, therefore, enjoyed bringing up that fact. When she didn't answer his sarcastic inquiry, he turned towards her in his chair.

"Everything ok?"

His soft voice held concern. He may have been a joker, but he knew when to drop the jokes and be serious. His eyes were full of questions and worry, as they always were when Annie had a problem. It seemed like he could pick up on her emotions as if he could hear them.

"Not exactly, Auggie. I need to talk to you and it's serious."

His eyebrows went up and he sat forward in his chair.

"I'm all ears, Annie."

She took a moment to work up the courage. It was harder than she thought it would be. Much harder.

"Auggie. I was talking with a… friend, last night. He told me something that got me thinking and I realized that I was doing things all wrong. I know I told you about Ben and you know how much it's affected me. It's taken me a long time to even get close to healing. For the longest time, I couldn't even bring myself to trust anyone."

While she talked, he'd managed to roll his chair over to the one she'd sat herself in when she'd began talking. His expression was kind and attentive.

"This isn't easy for me to say, Auggie. You've been there for me since I started here, you've been my best friend. I don't know how I'd manage all of this without you. You see, that friend of mine told me that it's okay to let someone it and that it takes time. Auggie, what I'm trying to say is that he made me realize that I've begun to move on."

At first, he looked confused. She waited in silence as he worked out the words in his head. When he came to the realization of exactly what her words meant, he reached out and took her hand without missing it. His warm, soft hand squeezed her cold fingers. When she looked into his face, she saw understanding, empathy, pain, passion and even love.

It was such a wide variety of emotions that she wondered how he didn't scream. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to handle that.

"Auggie, I wanted you to know that I'm in love with you, or at least that I'm on the way there. It's been rough for both of us and I know that it hasn't been easy. I just wanted get that out there so that I won't ever feel guilty for leaving you without that knowledge."

He nodded. His hands never stopped squeezing hers gently. His thumbs were rubbing circles into her palms.

"Annie, I'm glad you told me what was on your mind. You are ten times braver than I could ever be. I wouldn't have been able to do what you just did. I'll admit that there is something more between us than friendship. I love you, too and I couldn't agree more that neither of us have had an easy time. It's really been hell, Annie. I have no idea what to do about it. I know I joke a lot, but I'm not always as positive as I seem. Sometimes, life just sucks. I am glad, though, that you're here. You've made it suck a lot less."

She laughed a little at his words and squeezed his hands back.

"I know it'll take a long time for us both to be okay, Auggie, but I'm willing to wait. I can be patient."

He gave her a small smile and took her face in his warm hands. He ran his thumbs under her eyes where two small tears had fallen, as if he knew they were there all along. He then leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers.

"I can too, Annie."

Those four words made her heart soar. She hadn't known what to expect before she walked in, but what she got was more than she bargained for and it was great. It was all thanks to Jai that she had that at all. Without his advice, she'd still have been in the dark and as blind as Auggie's eyes were.

The rest of the day was spent running small ops on a possible terrorist threat. There wasn't much work involved and it was mostly a light day. Most of the employees had gone home for the night, including Auggie. He'd told her that he needed to think some things through and she admitted that she had the same wishes herself. There was, however, one person she knew was still there.

Jai Wilcox.

She made her way to his desk to find him with his head down on his arms, fast asleep. The sight had triggered that protective feeling from the night before. For a minute or two, she just watched the rise and fall of his chest and she listened to the sound of his even breaths.

He hadn't looked well that day. She'd noticed it as the hours wore on. His normally dark complexion looked pale and there was a sheen of sweat on his face. He still kept up the rich-kid act, though, despite his increasing discomfort.

She finally leaned forward and placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him.

"Jai, wake up."

His head snapped up and he looked around slightly bewildered for a moment, before remembering where he was. When he realized that he'd fallen asleep, he looked ashamed. Before he had the time to say anything, she placed her hand on his forehead to find a raging fever.

"You're burning up, Jai."

He shook his head and claimed to have a simple cold. When he discovered that she could not be fooled, he hung his head slightly.

"You're coming home with me."

His head snapped back up. Cutting off any dissent, she grabbed his jacket and his forearm, leading him to the exit. He must have known that it was useless arguing with Annie Walker when she made up her mind.

She wasn't the least bit uncomfortable at the thought of taking care of a friend when they were ill, as she'd done so with Auggie when he had the flu a few weeks previous.

When they got outside, the air was breezy, causing Jai to shudder slightly. She handed him his jacket and gave him a look that said put it on.

He didn't argue.

The ride home was quiet and Jai fell asleep again, his head against the window. She slowed down from her normal high-speed driving to avoid waking him up. Every few miles, she'd look over at her friend to make sure that he was still ok. He was awfully pale.

When she finally reached home, the lights were off. Thank God, Danielle wouldn't be aware of her visitor.

Jai had woken up just as she shut off the car. He slowly got out of the car and she waited for him before heading towards the house. The first thing she did when they reached the guest-house was make Jai sit down on the couch while she got a glass of water and some fever reducers.

He accepted them without protest, unlike Auggie had. Auggie had vainly tried to refuse them, saying that he was fine, but Annie was just as stubborn as he was. She was glad that Jai knew it wouldn't be worth the struggle to argue with her.

"Annie, thanks for helping me out. I'd usually be the last to admit it, but I really do appreciate it."

Annie smiled at him as she draped a blanket over his body.

"I owed you one, Jai. I think things will be ok for me with some time. I talked to Auggie and he felt the same as I did. I wouldn't have had the courage to do that without you."

That time, Jai smiled. It was a genuine smile and it was more real than the ones he gave to their colleagues. She didn't know what had happened to him that caused him pain, but he showed true relief to hear that hers was slowly being resolved. She could only hope the same for Jai.

Annie gave Jai some over-sized men's basketball shorts that she wore on occasion for him to sleep in and he smiled gratefully. She knew that he wasn't taking care of himself properly and that was why he was sick, but she hoped, that with time, he would. She knew that, while she spent time working on her love for Auggie, she'd work on the budding friendship between her and Jai.

She sat in the chair across from the couch until he finally drifted off into a peaceful slumber. As he slept, he looked younger. Though he still looked ill, he no longer carried the tense look that seemed to have been a permanent addition to his appearance. She'd only noticed it's presence that day, but now that she knew it was there, it was obvious. It came from the effort of maintaining that mask he wore.

She hoped that maybe, just maybe, he'd take it off someday.

She crawled into bed with thoughts of both Auggie and Jai on her mind. She couldn't believe that she'd finally taken that step towards a romantic relationship with Auggie, but she knew it'd be worth it. She may hold his hand, but he held her heart.

Jai showed her that and she vowed that she would help him find his own peace, as well.

He deserved that.

Thanks for reading!

~FITS~