Joan Cambell stepped out of her office, and in a clipped tone said, "Annie, my office. Now."

Annie Walker, still groggy from a long night in a cargo plane, simply nodded. A headache was forming across her brow and her back was still sore from getting slammed into a wall. She let out a sigh and began schlepping her tired, worn out body to her boss's office. Auggie Anderson, the master/god of all tech ops and Annie's handler, couldn't even muster his usual smirk. Her usually brisk walking pace was slow and he could hear her take in a sharp breath as she pushed herself out her chair. As she walked away, Auggie couldn't help but feel his anger getting the best of him. Taking a deep breath he tried to focus on the line of code appearing under his fingertips. The Intel that Annie had recovered was encrypted and the decryption of the material was all he could concentrate on.

Up in Joan's office, Annie prepared herself for the famous Joan stare and the inevitable tongue lashing that would ensue. Everything had been going according to plan; Annie would make contact, do the trade off, and then get on a plane destined for D.C. Except the trade-off had been where the problem had started, she had waited thirty minutes and the contact never showed. At the one hour mark Auggie had instructed her to go across the street and set up a communication point. All of a sudden, the contact had appeared, and made a grab for the small bag Annie had been carrying. (The original trade had been for a flash drive containing Intel on a certain Russian satellite that had "drifted" out of orbit. In return the contact would receive money…of course.)

Using the bag as a weapon Annie managed to hit the man across the face. Not wishing to blow her cover, she then used the tried and true female defense move; she kneed him in the groin.

"Annie? Annie? God damn it Annie, answer me," Auggie said. He wasn't yelling, but his voice was full of the intensity that Annie could only recognize as his worried voice.

"I'm here. We've been compromised, I'm going back to the airport. Can you get me on an earlier flight?"

Suddenly, movement to her right was visible. The contact had managed to get up and made a jump for Annie's legs. Annie was quick, but today quick didn't cut it. The force slammed her against a wall and knocked the bag from her hand. On the other end of the earpiece, Auggie listened as a scuffle turned into an all-out brawl. When it was over Auggie realized that he wasn't breathing.

"Hey Aug," Annie said, she was as breathless as he felt. "Get me out of here."

Taking a deep breath he said, "Anything for you Annie, just get to the airport."

Joan's sharp, clipped tone is what brought Annie back to the here and now.

"I said, you'll be taking some time off," Joan repeated, looking slightly annoyed.

It took Annie a moment to respond. "But, but you need me here." After she said it, she realized just how ridiculous it must have sounded.

A small smile threatened to appear on Joan's lips. It was hard not to compare herself to Annie. Joan remembered refusing to take time off as well, but she also remembered the consequences of not letting the bruises heal or not getting a full night of sleep. "Annie, listen to yourself, you need the rest. Ten hours on a cargo plane, in my experience, isn't the most conducive environment for a good night of sleep."

Annie let herself absorb Joan's words. She opened her mouth to argue, but couldn't come up with anything. At this point all she could muster was a nod and began to walk towards the door. As she reached for the handle, the sight of Auggie, bent over his keyboard, headphones on, made her stop and stare for a moment. He looked so tired, there were dark circles under his eyes and the stubble along his jaw was at least two days old. Turning back to Joan, Annie asked, "What about Auggie? I should stay until he's done decrypting the file."

"No, I want you both out of here. Five days paid leave."

Annie thought, "What am I going to do for five days?"

Back in Tech Ops, Auggie was still working on the file with little progress. He felt the pressure behind his eyes beginning to build, a sure sign that in the next few hours he would have a full blown migraine. He heard the doors behind him slide open and Annie's perfume filled his nostrils. "Miss Walker, you should be on the way home."
"Not gonna argue with you there. But according to Joan, you should be leaving the building as well."

Auggie blew out an annoyed sigh. Yes, his head was beginning to pound. Yes, he hadn't had a full hour of sleep in two days. But at the same time, the desire to find out what Annie had risked her life for was overpowering. "Fine, but I want to finish this first."

Suddenly he felt the chair spin around and he could feel stray strands of hair tickling his face. If he could see he would have been looking right into Annie's eyes; he might not have been able to see her eyes, but he could feel them. "Auggie, I'm not leaving here without you. So here's the plan: we'll get out of here, and we'll go somewhere. I don't really care where, but we'll go together. We're both sleep deprived and I'm guessing you haven't eaten real food since I left."

Auggie interrupted to say, "I had a power bar."

Annie smiled, "I mean real, real food Auggie: a pizza, salad, anything that was made in a kitchen."

Auggie's mouth watered at the thought of pizza, his stomach growled and Annie giggled at the sound. "Pizza it is then."

As they walked out of the building, Annie caught a glimpse of the sky outside, the sun was going down and the clouds where painted the color of grapefruit. Annie smiled to herself, remembering the first day she had arrived. Auggie had mentioned how subtle her grapefruit perfume was, it was something she had never forgotten. Auggie's hand around her elbow had become a regular part of her day. It was one of the few things she missed when she was on a mission. Tonight, more than anything, she wanted to be with him, even if it was for a few hours. What she really wanted was her best friend by her side.

They left Langley together and agreed to share a pizza back at Annie's house, it was closer and no one would be home until later. Danielle and Micheal were going out for dinner and a movie; the girls were spending the night with Micheal's mother. Auggie ordered while Annie took the quickest shower in human history. She let the water cascade through her hair and down her back. For a moment she wished that someone was there to rub the knots from her shoulders. Stepping out she found a bottle of Tylenol and took two. She dressed in sweats and a tank top and emerged from the guest house to see Auggie sitting on the couch. As she walked closer she saw that something was wrong. His eyes were glassy and his right hand was massaging his forehead.

"Hey Aug? You okay?" She couldn't help but sound concerned, he was obviously hurting.

Auggie tried to smile as well but his head was throbbing, "I'm getting a migraine, maybe I should leave."

"I have some Tylenol but that's about it, do you think food will help? Maybe you should eat first."

At that moment the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of the pizza. Annie paid the delivery boy and brought the pizza to the living room. She found plates, paper towels, and the bottle of Tylenol. Back on the couch Auggie listened as Annie padded around in the kitchen, he could tell that she was trying to be quiet. He couldn't smell her usual perfume, but the scent of coconut had drifted past him when she'd turned around to answer the door; her shampoo probably.

"Auggie, open your hand." Annie said. Auggie did as he was told, he felt the tiny capsules drop into his palm. He opened his other hand and Annie pressed a cold glass of water into it. He swallowed the pills and hoped they would head off some of the pain that still throbbed behind his eyes. "The pizza is at you twelve and the plates and napkins are at your three."

They ate in a comfortable silence, more out of hunger than anything. When they were done, Annie cleaned up and sat down next to Auggie. His eyes still looked shiny and Annie couldn't help feeling bad. They could have gone to Auggie's apartment or, or…

"Annie, why are you staring at me? Is it because I'm so 'mesmerizing' as you once so adequately described me," Auggie smirked, but Annie didn't buy it.

"I was just thinking that it wasn't a good idea to come here. As soon as you said you had a migraine I should have called the car service to take you home. But I didn't want to be alone tonight because I hate getting beat up and that guy was really rude. I mean, I had the money and all he had to do was give me the intel, but no, he just wanted the money and tried to beat me up for good measure. I just wanted to be with you for a little bit but now I just feel guilty and tired. I just want to sleep." Annie's speech quickly disintegrated into the ramblings of a sleep deprived college student.

Auggie said, "Annie, you're the only person I'd want to share my migraine with," He smiled, "I think we could both use some sleep; and now I'm going to ask if I can sleep on the couch because there's no way I'll make it in a car without vomiting. When I used to get headaches like this I couldn't move around too much or I'd get really nauseous."

Annie smiled, "Aug, you take the bed, I'll take the couch."

Annie led Auggie to the guest house then ran back to the kitchen for a cloth soaked in cold water. While he waited for Annie to come back he moved slowly around the room, taking in the feeling of the carpet and wooden floor. He felt his way around the room and stopped when he came to the bed. A wave of nausea hit his stomach and he sat down, not wishing to make a mess in what he assumed was a well decorated room. He heard the door open and Annie sat up next to him. His head weren't throbbing as much, but he still accepted the cold cloth and pressed it to his eyes. While he sat there, Annie found an extra pillow and some blankets.

"Annie."

"What Aug?"

"Thank you, for everything."

"Aw Auggie, that's so sweet, and thank you for coming over," Annie gushed. What she did next was a surprise to both of them. Annie leaned forward and kissed Auggie on the cheek. She leaned back and said, "Well goodnight." Then Annie happily flitted over to the window seat and turned it into a bed.

Auggie listened as she pulled the blanket over her head. He knew that he should have felt weird about sleeping in his best friend's bed, but he really didn't. As Auggie took off his shoes and shirt he thought, "Sleep deprivation does funny things to a person's mind."