A/N: When I finished "Close and Continuing", a friend and fellow writer told me I should try to write Auggie's rookie-days. I said I couldn't do it. Well, that was nearly three months ago, and, as you can see, I suppose I shouldn't have said I couldn't do it. It has been a long three months, not in the least because I haven't been able to visit the site for any substantial amount of time, but here it is. It is shorter than I would have liked, only five chapters, but beggars cannot be choosers. I shall post every Wednesday.

This story is for mandy58. Without her, there wouldn't be a story. Plus, she's a brilliant writer (if you haven't read "Collide" yet, do).

Shaken, Not Stirred

Chapter One: Dumped In

August Anderson wasn't sure what to do. The polygraph guy had said something about waiting for an escort, but three minutes had gone by since he'd finished his final test and no one had arrived. Auggie, as he was known by near everyone who knew his name, didn't like tardiness. Either it ended in blood-and-guts or a false sense of security.

He kept his eyes from drifting to his wristwatch and continued counting. 245, 250, 255, 260, 26—

"Anderson, right?"

Auggie forced his heart back down his throat. In the moment it took to quash his shame at being caught unaware, he surveyed the man in front of him. He was dark, not black, but a creamy toffee, a tone that, while unusual, was easy enough to classify as Middle Asian heritage. Auggie shook his hand.

"Auggie."

"Jai Wilcox. I've been assigned to show you around."

"Wilcox?" Auggie might not have been in the official spy game since he'd graduated from Camp Peary (AKA "The Farm"), but the name Wilcox had been at least an echo in his ear for the last five years.

"Yeah, good ole Dad." Jai turned and gestured for Auggie to follow. "Have you been stateside long?" he asked after a period of silence.

Auggie, who'd been concentrating on memorizing the way, focused his gaze back on the younger Wilcox. "Not really. A couple of weeks. Does it show?"

Jai didn't answer; he was too distracted by a passing female. "Trace," he acknowledged with a wink as they passed. "One of the perks. We can date our fellows co-workers," he said by way of explanation.

Auggie allowed himself to grin as he followed Jai through a door. He stood next to the other agent, taking in the sight before him. He'd been in busier crowds, but not many. The paths between desks were thin and they wove a web of seeming tunnels through stacks of paperwork and bureaucracy. Every desk appeared to be occupied, and the room almost buzzed with energy. It, for better or worse, strongly reminded Auggie of his few trips to the Pentagon.

"Welcome to the Department of European Affairs, the DEA. Your desk is this way."

Few heads turned as Jai, with Auggie on his tails, cut across the room to the far wall. He stopped beside a table that was pushed against the almost perfect midpoint of the stretch of grayish plaster. It was tall enough to comfortably allow its occupant to sit down, but that was the only good thing Auggie could say about it. It was boxy, barely longer than half an arm-span, and positioned in the worst possible way.

Auggie's distress must have leaked onto his expression, but Jai smirked and said, "The better you do, the better the desk."

Auggie looked at Jai. "Of course, it would be." In a place where you were sent to whichever department needed you, there had to be a way to show rank. He might not enjoy sitting at the smallest desk with his back to the entrance and his neck exposed to the rest of the bullpen, but he could understand it.

He moved his gaze off Jai and around the room. "Where's your desk, then?"

Jai revived his smirk. "In the middle of the sixth floor. Department of Asian Affairs."

Auggie didn't allow himself to acknowledge the weight in his gut that came from Jai's words. He had gone through Hell and back, survived—no, thrived—at the Farm, and as if that weren't enough, he'd completed SERE training at Fort Briggs and served his country for the last two and a half years. He could survive without a guide in a glorified office building. He plastered a smile on his face.

"How'd you get stuck leading around the newbie of another department?"

"Last to leave the briefing," Jai answered quickly. He looked at his watch before adding, "Look, I've got to go. Can you take it from here?"

Auggie wasn't sure what he was supposed to be "taking", but something about the other agent was rubbing him the wrong way more and more with every passing second. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Great. Thanks." Auggie didn't need to watch to know he barreled out of the DEA.

Auggie sat down at his new desk. Almost at once the hairs at the back of his neck rose and his attention focused behind him. He felt the gun at his back, the approach of unknown threats, the—

"Anderson!"

Auggie snapped to his feet, his knees slamming into the top of the desk with such force, he almost fell back into the chair. He ordered his heart to slow and the blush not to creep the rest of the way up his neck. He looked up in the direction of the voice. His eyes found an intimidating figure with a strong jaw and commanding stature that left no misconceptions of weakness.

"Up here, now."

Auggie gathered his wits and crossed the room toward the winding staircase where the man waited at the top. "Sir."

"Arthur Campbell, your boss. Follow me."

Auggie had always had a long stride, but Arthur was faster. Arthur led him into his office, a no-nonsense room with the same gunmetal colored walls as the rest of the department and adorned by framed medals and certificates. Arthur gestured to a chair in front of his desk and Auggie sat down on a tasteful, if hard, seat.

"You have an impressive record, Lieutenant." Auggie felt Arthur was staring him down, even though Arthur was looking down at, presumably, his file. "But it's been a while since you finished at the Farm. I see you declined going back for a refresher."

Auggie wasn't sure if that was a question or not, but he had the urge to defend his decision. "As you will see in my file, I have been on active loan to the army since the Farm. I—"

"I have your file here, Agent." Auggie closed his mouth with a silent snap. "I hope you won't regret your decision. Now, if you have any questions?" Auggie was about to ask what he was supposed to be doing, but Arthur ran him over. "Good. You can go."

Auggie didn't know what to think as he exited the office. He couldn't decide if Arthur agreed with his choice or not. Auggie stopped in front of his desk. He started at the chair, half pushed in and cockeyed.

Suddenly, he lunged and, without even noticing that the bustling bullpen had paused to watch, pulled his desk away from the wall. The feet scraped loudly against the linoleum as he turned it around so that he'd be facing the entrance.

Auggie sat down and pushed himself in. He picked up a few spilled pens before focusing his attention on the nondescript pile of paperwork that had appeared while he'd been in Arthur's office.

He didn't notice the gazes, one emanating from a pair of eyes above and one from the back of the bullpen.