Wow, the reception to this one-shot blew me away and I guess the consensus is that I should make it a stand-alone story and add a few more chapter. I'm keeping the one-shot in "The Catchall Drawer" to keep the reviews, but reposting it here, along with the second chapter.

DISCLAIMER: The usual stuff... I don't own Covert Affairs, Annie or Auggie.


-Chapter 1-

Annie rushed through the halls of Langley toward the DPD. A four-month undercover mission had finally come to an end and she was anxious to find out what was going on with Auggie. He'd been her main handler for the mission but about a month and a half into it Stu had taken over without offering any kind of explanation to Auggie's absence or when he'd be back. She'd known that he wouldn't be there every day when she checked in, although he was a BIG workaholic Joan wouldn't allow him to work 24/7. She insisted on him taking two days a week off a week, he normally took one and a half. He was a master at finding excuses for coming into the office on his day off. When he hadn't been the one to answer the phone when she checked in for a week she'd started worrying, but the mission had been intense and it wasn't until she'd checked in from Dulles she'd realized she hadn't spoken to Auggie in almost three months. As she rounded to final corner and entered the glass doors to the DPD she immediately made a beeline for Auggie's office. It was dark and abandoned, with no sign of Auggie. Just as she was about to turn and go to her desk and start writing her mission report Joan called her into her office.

"Good job on this mission Annie. You've gathered some really valuable intel."

"Thank you Joan. Ummm…." Annie hesitated; she wasn't sure how to ask Joan about Auggie.

"You want to know where Auggie is?" Joan cut to the chase.

"Yes. I thought he was going to be my primary handler on this mission, and no one told me why Stu too over without warning."

"Auggie's on medical leave. He's due back at work in a couple of weeks."

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Annie's voice was laced with worry.

"I'll let Auggie tell you that himself. He's at home and he told me to let you know that he wants you to come over after work. File your mission report and you're free to leave," Joan said dismissively. Annie got up and headed straight for her desk, wondering what was causing Auggie to be on medical leave for three months. Her mind was racing and she found it very hard to focus on the report, but she managed to send it off to Joan before 4 pm.


As soon as she cleared the gates of Langley she dug out her cell phone and dialed Auggie's number he picked up on the third ring.

"Annie! You're back I presume?" he said cheerfully. He didn't sound like anything was wrong with him.

"Just got back a few hours ago. I've been by Langley to file my report and now I'm heading back to DC. Joan said you wanted me to come by after work. What's going on Auggie?" Annie's voice was laced with worry despite Auggie's cheeriness.

"It's not something I wanna discuss over the phone. Do you want to come over now? Or do you have to make an appearance at Danielle's?"

"Danielle doesn't know I'm back. Have you eaten?"

"Nope, I'm starving actually, I was trying to decide of I should cook or call for a delivery."

"I can bring something," Annie offered. "Anything in particular you want me to get?"

"I was thinking about some Thai food. How does that sound to you?"

"Sounds great. Why don't you call in the order and I'll pick it up on my way over. Just order the regular one for me, ok?"

"Sure. See you in a few." Auggie ended the call.

Half an hour later Annie knocked on Auggie's door, she heard footsteps inside and to her surprise he didn't call out his usual "Who is it?", he just slid the door open. Annie was surprised to see Auggie looking as fit and healthy as ever. He was wearing a pair of worn jeans and a fitted navy t-shirt, his hair was slightly tousled and he smiled broadly. He didn't look sick at all, but there was something different about him, she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Hi Auggie, you look way better than I expected."

"Well, thanks for that Walker. I've missed you too. Come in. I'll take the food," he said, holding out his hand.

Annie handed him the bag and entered. After closing the door behind her she slipped off her shoes and looked around. The apartment was brighter lit than she remembered and she noticed Auggie had gotten a new TV, a big flat screen hung on the wall opposite from his couch. A paperback book with a pair of glasses on top of it sitting on the coffee table caught her attention. Her mind was spinning and she looked at Auggie again. He was leaning casually against the kitchen island with a smile on his face. Then she noticed his eyes; he was looking straight at her. Not in her general direction like he used to.

"Auggie...?" Annie breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. He nodded and his smile grew wider. Annie quickly crossed the floor to where he was standing and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a firm hug.

"You're just as beautiful as I imagined," he whispered into her hair. As they broke the embrace Annie found her voice again.

"You can see? How? When? Why didn't you tell me?" The questions tumbled out of her mouth.

"Yeah. It's a long story, I'll tell you over dinner, I'm starving," Auggie said as he withdrew some plates from the cupboard. Annie noticed how he moved differently; smooth, confident movements had replaced the subtle, searching moves of a blind man.

Ten minutes later they'd satisfied their hunger and Auggie started speaking.

"About a month after you left Dr. Kessle called. There was a new experimental treatment and I was an ideal candidate. Problem was it started just a couple of weeks later. I cleared it with Joan, she granted a 3-month medical leave and before I knew it I was admitted and they started the treatment. There was no real risk, I was completely blind, and things couldn't get any worse, right?"

"I take it the treatment was successful?"

"More than they expected. They'd had good results on people with really bad vision, but I was the first completely blind patient they tried it on. I haven't got 20/20 vision back, but I see well enough to move around in daylight without a cane, I can read regular print again and use a computer without any adaptive tech. I just need reading glasses and proper lighting. It's amazing. My night vision isn't all that great; I still need to use my cane outside at night and in dark places I don't know. I don't see well enough to drive either, but I can live with that. Anything is better than what I had, and what I got was more than I ever dreamed off. After Kessle's rejection last year I'd basically written off any chance of seeing anything ever again."

"Why didn't you tell me? I've been worried about you."
Auggie could hear the hurt in her voice and he could see the flicker of emotion that passed her face. He knew Annie and he'd expected this.

"Annie, you were the one person I wanted to tell about this, I wanted to talk to you so bad, I wanted you to be there with me in the hospital, to be there with me when they removed the bandages. Unfortunately the mission got in the way. Joan is the only one that knows why I'm away, I didn't want everyone to know, to get their hopes up for me and then feel sorry for me if it didn't work. You know me; I can't stand pity. Never could."

Annie nodded, she knew.

"I asked Joan if I could call you and talk to you. She said no. She didn't want you to be distracted, the mission was too important for that. She thought you might have jumped right on a plane back home if you knew what was going on."

"It's ok Auggie. Joan is right; I probably would've worried more about you if I'd known what was going on. So what does this mean? Are you going back in the field?"

"Yes and no. I don't see well enough to be a fully authorized field officer, so when I go back to work in a couple of weeks it'll be as Head of Tech Ops. Joan has promised me some field work though, we'll just have to wait and see what happens when I return."

"Why have you been out on medical leave for so long?"

"Took me a while to adjust to seeing again. I had terrible headaches the first month, had to be careful and not strain my eyes too much. That was a challenge, having lived in the dark for the past five years it was amazing to suddenly have a world of light and color again…" Auggie's voice got thick with emotion and trailed off. He took a deep breath and swallowed before continuing. "Really bright sunlight still bothers me and the headaches are persistent, but it's getting better. I can't wait to get back to work, I'm getting restless."

"I can only imagine…you're the biggest workaholic I know Auggie," Annie chuckled. Auggie looked over at her and winked. Annie shook her head; she still hadn't fully wrapped her head around the fact that Auggie could see her.

"I'm so happy for you Auggie, but I have to admit it's gonna take me a while to wrap my head around that you can see now."

"I know it's a lot to take in. Take all the time you need Annie. I'm here."


So, what do you think? Curious to read more or is it crap?

For now it's a one shot in "The CatchAll Drawer",
but if you want more I might turn it into a separate story.

You know what to do - hit the blue button below! :o)