Feelings of the mind and heart

Chapter 1

"Where is Joan?" Annie Walker perched on the edge of Auggie's desk. "She is normally in her office at this time."

Auggie Anderson lay back in his chair and took a deep breath savoring Annie's light grapefruit scent. "Not sure, all I know is Arthur came in about twenty minutes ago and pulled her up to the seventh floor and they have not been back since."

Annie thought for a moment; "Do you think it's bad? Are they still concerned about the Liza Hearn leak?" Annie tried not to bring up the "Liza issue" too much around Auggie. She has absolute faith that Auggie is not the leak and that he will do as he told her but still it was a touchy subject, and judging by how stiff Auggie suddenly got in his chair he did not like the topic either.

The last few months had been hard for him. Arthur finding out about him going rogue and running a mission on his own and then turning that into an official op was not what he expected. Arthur had told him not to tell Joan, lie to her even but he did not say anything about Annie. But he did not tell even Annie everything; what Arthur had said about wanting Joan out of range he wanted to apply to Annie. She was a good friend to him and he did not want her career ruined because he felt he had something to prove to everyone at the CIA. So he limited what he told her.

"Arthur still thinks that she will come back to me. She does not know that I intentionally fed her bad info, so he thinks she will come back." Ever since Tash had left and Annie's words about James Bond being old and lonely had set in, suddenly the Liza op was not as easy as he thought it would be; then you add in Arthur and things just became a downright mess.

Liza was beautiful but that did not extend all the way to the inside like it did with Annie. Liza has a selfish streak as long as a ten year olds Christmas list and the ego to boot it. Not that the ego was not warranted to a certain degree; she had the Agency scrambling to beat her out and she just kept on staying several steps ahead.

Annie studied Auggie for a moment; she knew he was not telling her everything but if he was with holding the details he had his reasons.

"Good morning." Jai Wilcox slid the door open then blasted a bright smile at Annie.

"Thanks again for inviting me to another bbq, your sister is an amazing cook!" Jai's voice was smooth and deep and despite her mixed feelings towards Jai, Annie could not help but flush from the attention.

Auggie restrained his sigh and just shook his head slightly. Jai was seriously laying it on thick today. Auggie could not help but wonder if Jai brought up their date just to irk him. Many people in the office had the idea that he and Annie had a thing for each other; and though he would be lying if he denied being attracted to her, Auggie just couldn't put himself out there again. The Tash op had shown Auggie just how much he was still in love with her and how much more he still needed to work through about his condition and personal issues before he could seriously commit to any one. Then there was the fact that though cracked, Annie's heart still clearly belonged to Ben Mercer despite Jai's attempts to fix said heart.

"So do you know why Joan has been trapped in a meeting with Arthur and other seventh floor big wigs for the last half hour?" Auggie tried to keep the sarcasm down but even to his ears he sounded a bit nasty.

"Not sure why, but I know the Assistant director and his niece are here and most likely in the meeting."

Before Annie could even ask what was going on Auggie interrupted.

"Trinity right? I thought she stayed at the pentagon mostly; what is she doing here?"

Annie looked between Jai and Auggie; she had no idea what they were talking about. "Is she a CIA operative? And why would she be at the Pentagon that is state department's territory."

"Trini pretty much goes where her Uncle sends her, she bounces around through all the different government agencies but yes she is CIA." Jai smiled. "I hope since Joan is in that meeting she may be coming to our division for a bit. Trini is a bit strange but a really nice girl. Smart as hell too, she is great with codes and ciphers."

Annie couldn't help but notice the ease and familiarity Jai was displaying towards this woman. Annie could feel a small sting of jealously but quickly put it aside. Jai and her had only gone out twice and if she was honest with herself, she did not really have the attraction to Jai that she shared with Ben. Then there was also the fact the Jai had been in Sri Lanka when she was with Ben.

Damn it! Annie thought. Why do I keep bringing Ben up and comparing him to Jai? I need to stop it! Could Jai have been the one to report to the CIA about her? Was he the reason they got interested in recruiting her?

"You sound like you know her pretty well Jai." Auggie stated.

"Well as the children of CIA department heads we ran into each other a lot."

Just then Annie saw Joan walking into their offices with a young strawberry blond woman dressed in a light gray pants suit with a lavender silk shirt underneath. Even wearing her heals the woman was still a few inches shorter the Joan.

"Looks like you are getting your wish Jai." Annie started "There she is with Joan and they are coming towards this office."

"Annie, Auggie I would like you to meet Trinity McAlister. Jai I believe you and Trinity are already acquainted so no introduction needed."

"Hi." Trini smiled and shook Annie's hand. "I have heard about you Ms. Walker and believe me it has been only good things."

Annie did not reply for a few seconds honestly stunned at the direct compliment. "Thanks, it's nice to know I am not completely screwing things up. Please call me Annie."

Trinity nodded; "deal and you can call me Trini. Trinity was my grandmothers' name and though I love her the name is a bit old fashioned."

"Hi." Auggie finally spoke up. "I'm August Anderson but you can call me Auggie. I do not believe we have ever been formally introduced."

"You're right about that Auggie." Trini replied. "But it is nice to finally meet you and your very famous computers. I have to admit I am a bit jealous of your set up here; I would kill for the programs you have."

"Well I am not adverse to sharing so anytime you want to try something let me know." Auggie let Trinity pull her hand away but he could not help but notice how soft her skin was, and like Annie she had only a small amount of perfume that reminded him of Jasmines and peaches. It was a heady combination to be sure.

Jai took Trini in a hug and gave her a soft charming smile. "Trini it is great to see you back home. We need to get caught up, it has been too long."

Trini offered a friendly smile nodding her head. "Defiantly Jai, in fact if nobody has plans I thought we could all go and get some drinks tonight. I'd like to get to know my new team mates."

Joan watched the exchange between her agents with interest. Trinity seemed to have a friendly relationship with Jai but something about the distance Trini kept between the two of them spoke volumes to her. Clearly Trinity had reservations about Jai and Joan figured it was with good reason.

As for Annie, she seemed like Joan had expected excited to finally have another new person in the division and interested in getting to know her. Which was a good thing because as per her orders Annie and Trini where to be partners for a while.

Auggie seemed to be very interested in Trini though. Even without his eyesight Auggie could still assess a woman and determine if she was beautiful. Joan saw the slight flare of his nostrils as he took in her scent and the small smile that followed it. Then when they shook hands Auggie took a little too long to let it go.

Still Joan couldn't put together the complete reason Trini was here but one thing was sure it was more that assisting in the search for the Agencies leak to Liza Hearn. Could it have something to do with bringing in Ben? Joan thought to herself. I am not sure even Arthur even knows why she is really here. Joan could not get the surprised look on Arthur's face out of her head when the Assistant Director had told them that he was Assigning Trinity to the DPD. Something was going on and Joan wanted to know what.

"Well now that that is done, Annie could you help Trini get set up at her desk please? She is taking the one across from yours." Annie nodded her head. "Good we are meeting the briefing room in fifteen so make it quick." Joan turned to Trini on her way out the door. "Welcome aboard Trini, you will be a great asset here." And with that Joan headed up to her office.

Trini watched Joan walk out, there were times her 'gift' came in handy. All through the meeting Joan had kept a cool expression like nothing was unknown to her, even when she was with her operatives she kept the same poker face. But for as good as she was keeping her game face on, her emotions were churning.

Joan was upset about having interference in her department and she was upset and annoyed, most likely about not knowing the real reason she had been added to the DPD roster. But there did not seem to be any resentment directed towards Trini, there was even a bit of hope floating around in there. But for what? Trini thought to herself. Even Uncle Archie does not know the real reason why I asked for this assignment.

"Well like Joan said let's get you set up and get to the briefing room. Joan will not be happy if we are late." Annie and Trini wondered out of Auggie's office.

Trini quickly loaded up the computer and logged in to the system. Annie went over to talk to Jai for a minute so Trini had a moment to get her shields up and fortified. Lowering them earlier was leaving a mark on her. She was much better at her blocking and filtering of emotions now but there was no way for her to focus on only one person's emotions. The emotions of anyone near still pushed at her senses. But it was interesting to feel Annie's and Auggie's reaction to her. Annie had had a moment of something that was almost jealousy but then it changed to interest and became a friendly and curious emotion.

Auggie seemed very interested and something had pleased him but what Trini was scared to even guess; better to push Auggie's feelings to the back of her mind. She had other things to focus on first and Auggie was defiantly a distraction. Dam the crush I had on him! I never even officially met eh guy and for months all I could do was think about him. Never mind the fact that almost every woman in the CIA found Auggie incredibly attractive. Trini closed her eyes and took a deep breath. With her shields firmly in place she pushed back from her desk and joined the others by Jai's desk. It was time for Trini and Annie to head out on their first mission together.