Although this story could be included as mutliple chapters under my 'Happily Ever After' umbrella, I've set it up as a separate story since it's a bit different than my normal stuff.

My new friend fbobs suggested the storyline in a PM to me. I liked it. fbobs has provided much technical information to help me craft a realistic (Okay as realistic as fiction can be) story. For this I am thankful. My trusty Beta has done her thing with it, too. But ultimately, any errors are mine and mine alone.

Once again I must reiterate that I write these stories for my personal pleasure (and hopefully yours) and I have no connection to the real Covert Affairs in any way shape or form.

Here we go-

The Story of The 5 seconds

Chapter One – The Beginning of it all

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With her husband, August 'Auggie' Anderson, on her arm as usual, Anne 'Annie' Walker-Anderson trudged down the concourse of Chicago O'Hare toward the shuttle to the rental car lot. Both travelers pulled their wheeled carry-ons behind them and Auggie had his folded up white cane under his right arm, the arm that pulled his suitcase. As she guided her blind husband through the throng of other holiday travelers, Annie marveled at their good fortune to have caught their boss, Joan Campbell, in a good enough mood that she let them off for a mid-week get-a-way without a fuss. 'Well,' Annie thought, 'I've just come back from a very trying assignment. I'm due a little R & R. A little peace and quiet in Glencoe is just the thing I need. And it wasn't easy on Auggie either. He deserves this time off just as much as I do. Maybe more.'

"Nickel for your thoughts," Auggie said as they exited the automatic door to the outside where the various rental car companies' shuttles made their rounds at regular intervals.

"Penny." Annie replied.

"What?"

"The phrase is a penny for your thoughts," Annie replied.

"I allowed for inflation. Your thoughts have got to be worth at least a nickel."

"What makes you think I was thinking anything?"

"Well, for one, you usually keep a running commentary about what's going on around us when we're traveling. You've been pretty quiet since we got off the airplane. Still replaying what happened in Lisbon over in your mind? What happened there was not your fault."

"I know. And no, I haven't been replaying Lisbon over in my mind. You said two things. What's the second reason that makes you think I've been thinking?"

"I know you," Auggie stated simply. "If not Lisbon, then what has you so preoccupied that you can't tell your poor blind husband what's happening in the world he can't see?"

Annie smiled at the hangdog expression on her husband's face. On so many levels he was far from a poor blind man. Man? Yes! My god what a man he was. Blind? Yes. But that was mostly an inconvenience to him, not a defining characteristic. Poor? Never. His life was full and rich. "I was thinking how nice it's going to be to see your family and to be somewhere where the job can't find us."

Almost an hour-and-a-half after they'd stepped off the plane from DC; Annie pulled the Malibu Eco they'd rented from Hertz into the driveway at Auggie's parent's house. Annie was surprised to see the drive and parking pads full of cars; she recognized all but one of them. That one also appeared to be a rental. That meant Alan was probably here, too. "It looks like everyone is getting a head start on the holiday," Annie mentioned to her husband, "The driveway is full of cars. It looks like even Alan might be here."

A pleased grin worked its way across Auggie's mouth. "Good. Someone I can almost talk shop with. Alan's the only one in the family that really knows what I do. What we do," he corrected.

"He's put two and two together?"

"He's never said, but I would be more surprised if he hadn't. He's no slouch in the brains department. College wasn't his thing. He tried, but he just wasn't cut out for that kind of bookish stuff. He's content in his career, that's all that matters." Auggie said philosophically.

"Yeah," Annie agreed as she put the car into park and turned off the ignition. Almost as soon as the engine stopped, Auggie was out of the car and unfurling his cane. Although a bit surprised at her husband's action, Annie did not say a word but exited her side of the vehicle and followed Auggie to the house. Once he'd located the back steps Auggie folded his cane back up as he crossed the back porch to the back door.

With Annie close behind, Auggie went to open the door, but, to his great surprise, it was locked. "What the …?" he mumbled under his breath. Cocking his head slightly Auggie listened for the signs of someone approaching to open the door before rapping loudly on the door.

The curtain on the back door parted a bit before the door locks were undone and the door thrown open to reveal a very pleased Olivia Anderson.

"Auggie! Annie! We didn't think you were coming!" The eldest Anderson wife greeted her brother- and sister-in-law with joyous hugs.

"What's with the locked door? I've never known the backdoor to be locked when somebody's home. And often even when everyone's gone." Auggie queried as he hugged his sister-in-law back.

As Olivia closed and relocked the backdoor she explained, "In the last few months there've been a few robberies in the area; Mom and Dad are just being extra cautious."

"About damn time," Auggie exclaimed. "We've all asked them to be more cautious and I'm glad they're finally listening. Now, where's everyone? Annie says that Alan's here, too?"

"Yes, Alan's here," Olivia confirmed. "The menfolk are partaking of some pre-prandial libations in the family room. Us women folk are in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner." As she followed the newly arrived couple into the kitchen, Olivia continued, "We'll set two more places at the grown-up table. The kids, or those that aren't with the other grandparents anyway, will be eating here in the kitchen."

When Auggie passed through the kitchen on his way to the family room to join his father and older brothers, his mother, after soundly hugging him, pressed a cold beer into his left hand. Once in the family room his brother, Austin, verbally guided him to an empty spot on the couch.

"Well, Alan," Auggie began as soon as he'd settled onto the sofa between two of his brothers, "what did you have to do to get Uncle Sam to let you have enough time off to come home to Glencoe for a visit?"

"Break my ankle," Alan replied from Auggie's left. "I stepped in a hole one morning a while back on one of the Marine's infamous 5-mile runs before mess call. I'm finally off the crutches and in a walking boot. Still not fit for duty though."

"For real?" Auggie queried incredulously.

"For real, Auggie. Give me your left hand and I'll prove it," Alan replied.

Auggie placed his cane onto his lap, and took a swig of his beer before switching the bottle to his right hand. Alan then guided his brother's hand to the top of the walking boot on his right leg.

"You're not kidding are you?" Auggie stated as he investigated the encumbrance on his brother's leg.

"'fraid not," Alan stated.

"How long has this been going on?" Auggie asked pointedly. "I'm assuming for a while for you to be in a walking boot now."

"Yeah. A while. In my eighth week of healing. Got a couple more to go and then they say some Physical Therapy. When I get back to base, I'm supposed to go on desk duty. I'm actually looking forward to that."

"So, why am I just now finding out about this? We've talked several times in the last two months," Auggie accused.

"We had other things to talk about and this never seemed that important," Alan remarked calmly. "It's not like this is the first break I've ever had."

"No, it's not. And probably won't be your last," Auggie agreed. After catching up with his other brothers and father and finishing his beer, Auggie rose and headed into the kitchen area of the sprawling downstairs of his parent's home. "Where's my wife?" he asked as he rounded the corner from family room into the kitchen.

"She and Jenna took your bags up to the guest room a bit ago. She said she wanted to freshen up a bit," Abigail Anderson advised.

"I need to do that, too," Auggie said as he adjusted his course to enter the hallway that went past the dining room into the front part of the house where the stairway off the foyer was.

# # # # #

After receiving a welcoming hug from her eldest sister-in-law, Annie followed her husband of a few months through his parent's home. Even though she'd been here a few times before, she wasn't fully comfortable in the well-appointed home with people who were obviously well-off. In the kitchen she watched as her husband accepted the cold beer his mother pressed into his hand as he passed by to the back of the house were his father and brothers were gathered. Her offer to assist was met with the suggestion that she could set two more places at the table. As Annie gathered the dishes and tableware from their respective cupboards she was joined in the task by the youngest of her new sisters-in-law, Jenna.

"It's so good that you could make the trip out at the last minute," Jenna said enthusiastically. "We really haven't had a chance to talk since your wedding. We're all rather interested in hearing how the honeymoon went. Abby hasn't divulged where she and Auggie made arrangements for that."

"According to Auggie, it was all his mother's doing, but we went to St. Barts. A nice relaxing time between the craziness that planning a wedding entailed and the work chaos that awaited me on my return. It's a nice place, but both Auggie and I felt a bit out of place."

"Saint Barts! You go girl! I've been trying to get Austin to take me there for a few years now. You and Augs didn't bring any bags in with you. You have a hotel?"

"No. No hotel. We were sort of planning on staying here, but Auggie was so eager to get in the house that the bags are still in the car."

"Well, we'll just fix that right now," Jenna said tugging on Annie's hand. "We're modern women. We don't need no stinkin' man to help us schlep a couple of bags into the house and up the stairs."

"Right," Annie agreed. "We don't need no stinkin' men."

A few minutes later the two women were lugging the carry-ons, and Annie's tote bag, up the stairs. The two women chatted about Jenna's two girls – who were at her parents for the holiday – as Annie situated the suitcases and freshened up a bit. Of her three sisters-in-law, as much as she liked them all, Annie seemed to gravitate to Jenna the most. Why this was, Annie didn't quite understand because they certainly had very little in common. Once Annie had hers and Auggie's bags situated she freshened up a bit by running a brush through her long blonde hair, splashed a bit of cool water on her face and neck and, because she was on vacation, kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes on the plush carpet. 'It definitely feels good to be here,' she thought loving her new family as she followed Jenna back down the stairs. Just as the pair of women were halfway down the stairs the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it, Mom," Auggie said to the pair's right and in response to his mother's request for someone to get the door. He was in the hallway from the back of the house.

Jenna hurried down the last few steps. "I'll get it Auggie. We're not expecting anyone."

Descending the stairs Annie heard "we're not expecting anyone." put it together with the rash of robberies – more like home invasions Jenna had said – and had a sudden bad feeling; her instincts and training kicked in before Jenna even opened the door. She started to say "Jenna, don't ..." when the first lock clicked.

Auggie stopped partway down the hallway and allowed Jenna to get the door. Jenna barely had the locks undone when the unexpected visitors – three young men brandishing semi-automatic weapons – burst through the door.

The first one was through the door – trying to make room for the others – screamed threats as he grabbed Jenna, wrapped his left arm around her neck and jammed his Glock 19 to her temple. Then his gaze darted to Annie on the stairs and then to Auggie, white cane in hand, in the hallway. Their movement caught his attention causing a momentary attempt to check his motion. The hesitation caused his companions, pressing in behind him, to stumble into him as they tried to get in the door. Then, still off balance, the first one in waved the gun toward the room to his left as he yelled for them to get back.

If she needed a window to act, the gun waving to the other room would have been enough, but, adrenaline fueled and instinctively prepared, Annie was already in motion pushing off powerfully down the stairs. Recognizing instinctively that she was the only one standing between the thugs and god-only-knows-what havoc, Annie attacked with the focus and unwavering ferocity of a Doberman. Compliance with the thug's demand to move into the living room was not an option, her family was under attack. With no thought of self, just the destruction of the threat, Annie drove herself directly at the man holding Jenna like a cornered wildcat; the adrenaline kicked in, time slowed, vision narrowed, her whole universe was the first thug holding Jenna - there was no thinking, it was all reflex, training, and all the pure animal ferocity she could deliver. Survival wasn't on her mind as she jammed her left hand onto the slide of the Glock – gouging her palm. She knocked it out of battery and locked her grip around it so the slide couldn't move forward. She momentarily felt the gun react as the guy's finger turned white on the trigger, knew then that the first move had worked and it wouldn't fire if she didn't ease her grip. With lightening reflexes, honed by hundreds of hours in the gym and advanced weapons training, she levered the gun down and out of his hand before the slide could slip back in her grip.

Her right palm slammed into his chest – cracking his sternum – her elbow flexed to jam itself between him and Jenna as she crashed into him at full speed. Her momentum drove him, and the two behind him, back so they couldn't get a shot at her. Jenna shaken, partially stunned, was thrust, scrambling for balance, away from the intruder giving Annie the chance to smash the first man's larynx with his own gun, and then ram her right elbow into his throat again delivering a second potentially fatal blow and placed her hand in position so that she could transfers the semi-automatic pistol to her right hand. And then, reaching around the collapsing thug, she fired four quick shots that put the other two on the floor just inside the door. As soon as they were down, a barely balanced Annie simultaneously looked out the door and heel kicked the weapons of the two downed men out of anyone's reach. Her bare foot started to bleed from kicking the guns but she barely noticed the pain. After she looked out the door and ascertained that there were no more threats outside, Annie stepped back, pistol still trained on the fallen thugs. She didn't care if they were alive. Her vision began to clear. She saw Jenna, scrambling to her feel from where she'd fallen, looking confused and a bit panicked and then fleeing to the back of the house past Auggie. The look Jenna had when she looked at Annie seemed to ask 'Who are you and what have you done with my sweet, demure sister-in-law?' And, to her huge relief, she saw that Auggie was okay. Five violent seconds after the first lock clicked it was over.

Even before Annie had time to take a deep breath, Auggie was on his phone to Langley.

"This is Peppermint, password Matrix. We have a situation at my location in Glencoe, Illinois. Helvetica has just taken out at least two intent on a home invasion at my parent's residence. We need assistance," Auggie calmly relayed to the person answering on the other end of the call. "Annie?"

# # # # #

As soon as his brother got up to go upstairs, Alan also got up and hobbled out of the family room to get another beer from the fridge. He paused in his travel when the front doorbell rang. That was a rare occurrence; everyone came to the back door unless they were selling something. But who would be selling what at this hour the night before a holiday? He heard his blind youngest brother offer to answer the door and began to make his way to the front of the house. Having a blind man answer the door with the spate of home invasions was not a good idea. Even if that blind man was former Special Forces and even now a covert officer of the CIA. And then when his sister-in-law actually answered the door, he relaxed a bit and paused near the opening from kitchen to hallway. What he saw at the end of the hallway seemed surreal. If he needed conformation that his new sister-in-law was CIA like his youngest brother, her rushing of the assailant holding his other sister-in-law and expertly dispatching him, and then the other two behind him, was it.

He turned to his left and checked the back door and porch for more thugs. And then to the patio doors to check them and then finally to corralled the rest of the family in the family room. A family that seemed confused and anxious. A family that had no clue what had just happened and Alan wanted to keep them in the dark for as long as possible. They really didn't need to know what their newest sister- or daughter-in-law was capable of. Or what their son and youngest brother really did for a living. Long ago he'd been entrusted with the truth about his brother. He'd been sworn to secrecy then and had kept his brother's trust for all these years. He knew his brother's wishes then and Alan felt that they still held true now; possibly even more so now.

The family matriarch, Abigail Anderson, had been on the phone to the 911 dispatcher almost before the last shot had been fired. When he had been checking the backdoor, Jenna had rushed through and was now in her husband's arms on the sofa in the family room sobbing uncontrollably.

With his wife sobbing in his arms, Austin looked up questioningly at Alan as he went from the patio door back in to the kitchen. Alan paused for a moment. "Someone tried to muscle their way into the house. They've been taken care of. Now all of you just need to stay back here and keep quiet. Police will be here shortly to take everyone's statements. Now I'm going back up front and check on Annie and Auggie."

"Auggie. My baby. How's …?" Abigail Anderson cried.

"Both Annie and Auggie are just shaken up, but since they were close to the action they need to stay where they are for now. They're gonna need to talk to Jenna, too. I don't know about the rest of you. I'll be back when I can and tell you exactly what happened," Alan carefully explained. "But for now, stay in here and out of the way," he commanded before leaving to go back to the foyer.

"It's Alan," Alan announced loudly as he came down the hallway relieved to see Annie was no longer in battle mode; she was sitting on the second step from the bottom with the appropriated weapon still in her hands but pointed at the step between her feet. Auggie was now sitting on the steps beside Annie, one arm around her shoulders. He seemed to be staring at the carnage on the floor in front of him, but Alan knew better. Annie seemed to be staring out the still opened front door. On his way to the living room to sit and wait for the police, Alan almost reached down to pick up Auggie's white cane from the spot where his brother had dropped it, but then just stepped over it, leaving the crime scene intact.

"Jenna's with Austin. The rest of the family, kids included, are in the family room. I told them to stay back there for now. They don't need to see this," Alan said as he moved an ottoman toward the entry and sat down. His combat experience was helping him stay calm, besides it was over before he could get involved in the actual fight. He knew this was the last thing his brother and his sister-in-law needed to deal with. Annie seemed to be holding it together pretty well, Auggie was right there for her – she was going to have after effects from this. Definitely best to focus on the immediate serious issue and deal with everything else later.

"What's your covers?" Alan asked softly enough that the rest of the family was unlikely to hear.

"Same as usual, I'm IT at the Pentagon. Annie's Smithsonian. We're family here for the holiday," Auggie advised.

"I'm a martial arts and self-defense buff," Annie said quietly beside him, with just the faintest hint of trembling now in her voice. "That's how I knew what to do. I couldn't let them get past me. My defenseless husband was in their way." She patted Auggie's thigh tenderly. "We've got to play it that way. I hate to, but…"

"It's okay, Annie. You know I can play the hapless blind guy well enough to sell it,"

"Mmm, Annie," Alan started, "you might want to put the pistol down before the cops get here. They might see you holding it and shoot first. There's been enough blood shed this evening."

"I'm sorry …" Annie began but that's all that she could say before Alan interrupted her. As far as he was concerned his newest sister in law had nothing to be sorry about – and they were damn lucky she was where she was when those guys came through the door – this wasn't good but it was way better than how it could have played out.

"Absolutely no need to be sorry, Annie. You did what you had to do. I just meant that I didn't want your blood on the floor also. Well, I see that you have left a bit, but … You know what I mean," Alan said.

A police car screeched to a halt in front of the house, cutting the siren even before it was stopped but leaving the lights on to alert the whole neighborhood. The second police car seemed to do the same. And a few moments later the EMTs arrived. As soon as the police vehicles pulled up, Annie laid the gun on the bottom step before the officers opened the doors. "What happened here?" an officer asked as he approached the open door on full tactical alert, with two others just as alert behind him. His gun wasn't drawn, but his hand was on it. When he had a view inside and finished assessing the calm people looking at him and three bodies on the floor, it only took a couple of seconds before he realized the incident was over, he saw a gun on the step in front of a blond woman but realized from her pose there was no danger.

Annie and Alan had stayed still – waiting for the officers to come to the realization that they were not the threat – and when the first officer and then the other officers straightened up out of an instinctive crouch, Alan could feel some tension leave his bodies.

The first officer said, "Please stay right where you are while I check these guys," and waved the EMT's forward.

Then he continued, "OK, once again, what happened?"

# # # # #

Well? What did you think?

Next time the story will continue from first Jenna's point of view. Then well get back to Annie, Auggie, Alan and other family members. How do you think that the others will view Annie now?