A/N: The only introduction I'll give this is that it's set about two years after the season 1 finale. Hope you like-ey!
Disclaimer: I owneth not Covert Affairs (yes, I liketh to talk in fake Old English :).)
Chapter 1
Auggie Anderson tripped over an errant dress shoe, left carelessly (when had that happened?) in the middle of his walk-in closet. He muttered an angry curse into the emptiness of the room, and sank to the floor in defeat, his legs crumpling beneath him. The pile of neatly folded clothes, headed for Goodwill, flew out of his hands and scattered around him.
Angrily, he dug through the pile and flung the shoe against the wall. It hit with a dull thud, he noticed satisfactorily, and he tried to relax, letting the stress roll off his shoulders.
He usually didn't find himself in this predicament, cleaning out his own closet on a Friday night, but he needed the distraction. After yelling at Stu for offering to pick him up for a (hopefully) stress-free night at Allen's with the tech guys, he wasn't really in the mood to do anything he usually would do.
He had heard the resignation in Stu's voice as he'd protested, then given up. Auggie was a jerk.
And he knew it.
After several minutes of sitting there, in the middle of his closet, trying to pull himself together, he gathered together the articles of clothing together and stuffed them in a stray grocery bag that had been in the corner.
Auggie reached for what he thought was the last article of clothing, and stilled when he realized it was soft cashmere. Lifting the sweater to his nose, he breathed in the smell of Jo Malone Grapefruit and lavender shampoo.
He cursed the tears that pricked the back of his eyes.
He cursed a lot lately.
Auggie couldn't believe she was still wreaking havoc on his life. She had stormed out of his life three weeks and two days ago, and she still had the power to turn him into a mush of a man.
"Auggie! Auggie, c'mon!"
He heard her voice as if it had been yesterday. He could feel the lapping of the ocean against his ankles, could hear the voices of the seagulls. He could smell the salt of the sea and the sand. Annie tugged on his hand urgently, as if this mission was just as important as any sanctioned by Langley, and he could feel her stare boring into him. "Baby, c'mon," she urged.
"Annie…" he had protested, shuffling his feet against the wet sand, his feet sinking down.
She had groaned overdramatically. "I can't believe you've never been to the beach before!" She came back to him then, taking both his hands into her own, and she pushed up on tiptoe, kissing him gently. "C'mon, Auggie. The beach wants to meet you."
He was still caught up in that caress, ready to pull her back for another kiss, but she was already dragging him along the beach, and he stumbled in his effort to keep up.
She had giggled when she looked back at him, and she slowed to a stop. She slipped into his arms, looking up at him adoringly, before she settled at his side.
They walked along the beach, talking about Dani and the girls and dinner plans and the future. It was then that Auggie knew that Annie was his future. Life without her was no life at all. She filled all the empty places in his heart. Annie understood him, challenged him. With Annie, he wasn't just "that blind guy in apartment 4C." He was Auggie, boyfriend extraordinaire.
He'd always had confidence in himself, always known how capable he was, but, with Annie, he felt like he was somebody, somebody she could believe in and love.
She stopped them both, stooping to the sand at their feet. With an eager grin, she brushed the sand off the shell and lifted it to her ear, listening. After a moment, she pressed it to Auggie's ear. "Listen," she said, almost giddy, one hand holding the shell to his ear, the other resting against his bare chest.
As he took in the wonders of the sea with her that afternoon, he fell in love, both with the sea and the girl wrapped in his arms, sharing her simple joys with him. He could imagine sharing a million new wonders with her, and it made him eager to start their future together.
"I love you," he blurted out, in the middle of Annie's babbling about some other oceanic wonder, in the middle of the roar of the sea and the squeals of nearby children. It just felt right, and she needed to know. She slipped into his arms, and he reached up and caressed her cheek gently. The muscles in his face relaxed in a soft, affectionate smile. His thumb settled against her jawbone, and he kissed her sweetly. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers. "I—I know it's kinda sudden, but I think you need to know. I love you. Like crazy."
She grinned back at him, leaning in for a quick kiss. "Love you, too, baby."
"You're not just saying it, for me?"
She laughed at the wounded look on his face. "Did you forget that I'm the one that first kissed you? That first said how I felt about you? Auggie, I'd never lie about that."
A slow smile snaked up his face, and he tucked her back at his side. After they'd walked in silence for a few moments, he teased, "Sooo, Miss Walker. Have you run out of those ocean mysteries you have insisted that I see?"
She grinned and reached for his hand, and they ran along the beach, toward the setting sun and a million new adventures.
As the sweater dropped back into Auggie's lap, he had to remind himself that he wasn't that man anymore, dreaming of eternal bliss and sharing it with his favorite person in the world. Everyone had dubbed Auggie Anderson and Annie Walker as the "new Romeo and Juliet of the Agency," but that had ended the day that Annie had ripped his heart out.
There was no happily-ever-after for Auggie Anderson.
He folded the cashmere sweater and carried it, along with the bag for Goodwill, out to the kitchen. He'd have to leave it on Annie's desk tomorrow. She'd get it when she returned from her mission to South Africa.
With a groan, he realized she was due to arrive back in the States tonight. She'd been mercifully gone the past two weeks, working undercover, but the mission had ended more quickly than they had anticipated.
He fleetingly considered calling off work, but he knew Joan would never buy it. Like it or not, he'd have to learn how to work with Annie Walker.
A/N: Dun, dun, dunnnnn! I promise this is not a one shot, and I promise there will be a happy ending!
I'm just shocked that nobody has even attempted this, and I've wanted to do it for a while. Please review!