The door opened and Auggie entered the office. He just came back from Africa and headed straight to the CIA-office. He wanted to talk to Annie, he wanted to tell her how sorry he was. But when he walked through the doors he was surprised at the silence inside the DPD office. He could only hear a few people talking and moving around.
He made his way up to Annie's desk, only to find it empty. Maybe she already went home. It was a holiday after all. If he was lucky Joan would still be in her office, but when he knocked nobody answered. He opened the door and stepped inside. He could feel nobody was there, but still called out her name to be sure. He didn't get an answer.
'Where could they all be?' He shook his head and left for his office. The closer he got to his office the louder voices behind his glass walls rose. 'Looks like I found them'. He opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He could make out Stu's voice, he smelled Joan's perfume and the strong smell from Jai's aftershave, but his beloved Jo Malone grapefruit perfume wasn't around. 'Annie wasn't around.'
Now he felt the glances of the people. "Guys, I may be blind, but I can see you staring."
"Auggie, what are you doing here?" Joan asked.
"Well, I missed you all. So I decided to come back earlier." He answered with a smile.
"You have to get out of there! Now!" Stu shouted suddenly into a microphone.
"Is that Annie on the line? What's going on? Where is she?" Auggie asked immediately. He heard Joan's high heels coming closer to him and then he felt a light grip on this arm. Slowly he followed her out of his office, his cane still in his hand. As soon as the door closed behind them Joan briefed him:
"Annie's at a mission in San Ramon, Costa Rica. Her mission was to get into a company ruled by Andres Salas. His company is supposed to deal with guns and drugs. Her job was only to confirm that, but it looks like her cover is blown. They are looking for her."
Joan couldn't say more, because Auggie turned and ran back into his office. He walked straight to his chair and felt the scud as Stu stood up. He didn't bother arguing about Stu sitting in his chair, but searched his desk for the headphones. He hurried to put them over his ears, just in time to hear a familiar voice talking to him.
"Stu, I can't hide here any longer. I need a way out of here. NOW!" Auggie heard Annie screaming. It was a relief for Auggie to hear her voice. To know she was alright for now. There was so much he needed to tell her, but he couldn't. At least not now.
"Guess again, Walker." He teased with a grin.
"Auggie?" she said excited. "Why are you already back?"
"I need to save your ass, again. That is reason enough to come back. Where exactly are you?" He already knew which building she was in, reading the files.
"Second floor. Room 215. No windows. Only one door. They might be here any minute."
"Alright. Stay calm. I'll find a way to get you out." He said, looking for a suitable escape route. "Okay, listen, can you manage to get to the toilets down the hallway? You can get into the ventilation shafts. I'll lead you through them, to the emergency exit, alright?"
"Got it." Annie answered and opened the door she was hiding behind slowly. She peeked out of the room, only to see four henchmen walking through the corridor, opening every door in order to find her. She hurried to close the door again. "Auggie, I can't get out of here without a distraction."
"Damn it. Okay, I'll hack into their security system." Only a few breaths later Annie was able to hear the security alert at the other end of the building. Salas' men hurried towards the alert and she opened the door once again to find the hallway empty.
"Thanks Auggie, you're awesome." She said with a smile and stepped out of the room. As fast as she was able to, she made her way up to the toilets and locked the door behind her. Her glace got caught at her reflection in the mirror. Around her left eye, she was able to see the bruise where the fist of one of the men hit her face before Auggie took over the situation. Three of the men were able to catch her, but she was able to take them down. Before all three of them were knocked out, they were able to land a few hits on her and one of them tried to shoot her. Luckily the bullet only grazes her right upper arm slightly.
"Auggie, I can't access the shaft. I can't get through the bars."
"Come on, Annie. Think of something. I'm sure there is anything thin enough to unscrew the bolts."
Annie looked around. There was nothing she could use. Nothing at all. "Auggie, I can't find anything."
"Okay… which shoes do you wear right now?"
"Why do you want to know that?"
"Annie, use the heel of your shoes."
"Do you know how expensive Christian Louboutin shoes are? You own me a new pair when I get back."
"I will you buy any shoes you want, if you make it out of there alive." He said completely honest.
Auggie was able to hear Annie working on the screws. He hoped with his whole heart he could keep his promise, he hoped he was able to guide Annie out of the building, he hoped she would be back home soon.
"I've got it Auggie. Which way do I need to take?" When he heard her beautiful voice again he sighed in relief. He told her with his calm voice which way to take, when she had to turn the corner. He barely recognized the voices of his coworkers behind him, but he could tell Stu was about to leave, now that Auggie was back. Auggie felt the air change when Stu opened the door.
Auggie was able to hear Annie's heavy breaths as she crawled through the thin shafts. After a few minutes he could hear the sound of metal falling to the ground. He assumed Annie removed the grid at the other end of the shaft. "Auggie, I'm in the room, close to the emergency exit."
"Okay, then get out ASAP." He told her. A minute passed without a word from Annie. He started to worry and turned his head towards Joan. His blind eyes trying to look her straight in the eyes.
"Annie will be fine, Auggie." Joan answered him. He nodded and turned his head back to the screen.
"Auggie, I have a problem." He heard Annie's desperate voice. "I can't take the emergency exit. They are coming up the stairs." Annie looked around in the hallway in panic. There was no place to hide, she couldn't make it back to the room she just left. The heavy steps of the men coming closer to the end of the staircase. There were only a few stairs, a sliver door and some steps between her and Salas' henchmen. She wouldn't come out of there alive.
"Alright Annie, I need you to stay calm. I'll get you out of there." Auggie's voice was as steady as it ever was. No sign that he was unsure of what he did. Auggie believed in his words. He was sure he could save her, because he always did. But there was no way Auggie could save her, rescue her. Not today.
Joan watched Auggie's finger flying over the keyboard. She saw the desperate look in his useless eyes and she was sure he would do anything to get Annie out of there. She did understand what Auggie felt for Annie and she was sure Annie felt the same way. They reminded her of Arthur and herself. She stepped behind him and put her hand on Auggie's shoulder, to comfort him.
"Auggie, please tell Dani and the girls-" Annie tried to tell Auggie, but he interrupted her.
"Annie, I won't tell Danielle anything, you can tell them by yourself, alright? I will get you out of there! Okay, across of you there must be a room locked with a keypad. I'm hacking into their system to deactivate it, right now. You will have about twenty seconds to get in there. Then I need you to jump out of the window." Auggie closed his eyes at the end of his statement. She was in the second floor and jumping out of the window could kill her. And to support his fears Jai shouted:
"Anderson, are you out of your mind? This is going to kill her!"
"Doing nothing is killing her, too!" Auggie yelled. With every word he was losing more of his composure. Auggie heard the clicking of heels and then the sound of Jai's shoes. Joan was taking Jai outside and he was thankful. Right now he needed to stay calm, to keep a clear head to get Annie out alive.
"You'll get her out Auggie." Joan said in support.
Auggie wasn't able to answer and just nodded. He concentrated on hacking into their system once again. His hands were shaking when he hit the buttons.
"Auggie, I trust you." Annie's whisper calmed him a little. She trusted him with her life. "Aug, hurry!"
The henchmen just opened the door to the staircase. It swung open with a quiet creak. Annie pressed her back against the wall behind her, hoping not to be seen. She had heard Jai screaming at Auggie and was worried about what Jai said, but she also knew Auggie was right.
"Annie, RUN! NOW!" Auggie's voice echoed to her mobile phone. Now or never. Taking on last deep breath, she ran towards the door. Loud gunfire filled the air when the henchmen saw her. She forced her feet to move faster, then she held her hand out, pushed the handle down, the door opened and she ran into the room, closing the door behind her. She saw the green light change to red again.
Auggie froze when he heard the shots. His blood ran cold, but then suddenly it wasn't as loud as before anymore. Annie made it into the room. Only a second later he heard glass clink when Annie jumped out of the window. Then silence.
This is my first Covert Affairs fanfic, so please tell me what you think about it in a review.
All the characters belong to USA-Network. I don't own them Auggie or Annie :(