Ok, this is the first chapter of my first story. (squeal) This show has been my addiction and it's what has inspired me to start writing. I've read all the stories about it and I absolutely love them all, and I must say wonderful job to everyone who's written them. Well, please, please, please let me know what you think. I want any kind of review, good or bad. Just give me some feedback, hit that little button at the bottom of the page that we all know and love. I'll give you virtual chocolate cake if you do!

Summary: Something's up with Annie, Auggie wants to know what it is. Meanwhile, Joan begins keeping her own secrets, but Arthur doesnt find out before it's too late. . .

Disclaimer: Blah, blah blah. . .don't own it. . .blah, blah blah. . .oh, the all the fun things I could do if I did. . .

Secrets and Lies

Annie Walker was much like herself, but Joan would never admit it. She watched the new agent from where she stood by the monitors at the head of the new department's offices and studied her. As she studied Annie, Auggie, the tech op, walked up to Annie at her desk, leaning against it in a casual way. Listening carefully, she could hear what they were saying, "Yeah, but I've looked at that, there's nothing there," Annie was saying, running a hand through her already tussled hair.

"Ok then, Ms. Crabby Pants," Auggie said in his teasing way. "Hey, so what's really wrong?" His eyes focused above her head as he waited for an answer.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes, even though she knew it was pointless.

"You know, I will find out."

"Sure, we'll just go with that..."

"Ok, I'll just find out later," he said with a smirk before pushing himself off of her desk and walking away using his laser cane as a guide. Annie sat at her desk and began working again with a sigh. Joan wasn't sure what was wrong, but she knew she'd know if it was important. Still, she had half a mind to find out but she couldn't figure out Swhy she even wanted to know. Why would she care?

Joan turned back to her work then and pushed those thoughts away, as if she didn't already have enough to deal with. There was already Arthur. Then there were all of the assignments she was dealing with too. With sleepy eyes she decided needed a fix. Joan got up and left the department to go get some coffee from the Starbucks inside on one of the lower levels.

~XOX~

True to her task, Joan returned about 15 minutes later with her coffee. It still took a surprisingly long time to get it, but it was worth it. She entered the new division's offices and walked up to the monitoring screens again. She was watching for anything suspicious in a hotel lobby where a meeting was supposed to take place between some foreign agents or something. Honestly, she didn't really care, she just wanted the day to be over with. Then again though, that meant having to deal with Arthur.

She was watching the screen when something caught her eye over where all the desks were. Auggie was back again and it looked like he was heading for Annie. Again, she was able to make out the conversation.

"Anything good yet?" Auggie asked, his mouth centimeters from her ear, making Annie jump just the slightest in her seat.

"No, it's like they know we know about them. They've hidden everything about their op. I have no idea what they're doing," she said, clearly frustrated.

"Well just keep trying."

"Yeah, because that's working so well."

"Ok, really Annie. What's up?"

"Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch."

"Yeah, and I'm a magical unicorn. I'm not stupid Annie."

"Hey, I never said you were. Have you ever considered the fact that I just don't want to tell you?" Annie stated, staring at the computer screen.

"Well, I'm here if you want to talk then. I know you will...eventually." With that, Auggie walked away again, but this time, he was headed for Joan. She quickly realized this and turned away from them, looking like she was busy with her work. Really, her mind was racing though. What was going on? She didn't understand.

"Um, Joan?" Auggie said, unsure of himself.

"Huh? Oh, what Auggie?" she was suddenly taken out of her trance and mentally cursing herself for getting into it. What was her problem today?

"I just wanted to let you know that Annie and I can figure out absolutely nothing about the foreign op going on. We think they might know we're watching them. It's like they know exactly what we're up to."

"Ok...thanks Auggie. Maybe it's encrypted or something. You've got to look for all of the possibilities here. You and Annie should work together on this, not separate from each other, tell her it's an order."

"Got it Joan," and he walked away, using his laser to guide himself through the desks.

Joan was feeling very content with herself at the moment, she had found a solution that was sure to displease Annie, but that would solve what was going on. If only she had something to do now that wasn't as boring as bricks. She had another thought though. Maybe she could listen to Annie and Auggie again. She wasn't quite sure what it was about those two that got her, but she wanted to know what was up.

She had to be careful though, or else they were going to turn her into another bleeding heart. It was probably the fact that they reminded her so much of when Arthur and her were younger and in the same positions as they were. It was clear there was something there. It was just up to them now to figure it out. Joan sat back in her chair and a slight smile appeared on her face. It disappeared as soon as she was brought back to reality however.

Turning back to the monitors, but listening to Auggie and Annie, she began the long afternoon.

~XOX~

After his short exchange with Joan, Auggie slowly made his way towards Annie. Oh, this was going to be fun.

"Guess what?" he said, sneaking up behind her again and grabbing onto her shoulders, massaging them.

"What the-," she started before realizing it was him. "What do you want?" she asked him, in her best voice possible.

"Joan gave me orders, we've got to work together on this."

"Oh joy," she said, putting her head in her hands dramatically.

"Now, now, no need to get upset over it. You're just going to have to deal with it," he said, putting on his charming smile.

"And let me guess, this is going to be fun for you, isn't it?" she said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah," he said before reaching for a chair and slowly sitting down next to her. "So, where should we start?"

"Um, let's look at their communications I guess," she stated, clicking with her mouse on the screen.

"Great."

Annie started going through all of the records of any communication the foreign agents had and Auggie sat there waiting for her to start talking. It was one of the disadvantages of being blind, he wasn't able to go through the information like Annie was. Instead, he would need his headphones and his braille keyboard to help him out. This time, he would need Annie to tell him what they were doing.

"We have no way to tap into their communications. Cell phones can't be traced but we might be able to listen into their conversations when they call each other. Emails are useless, unless they're in code or something and it's not like they're on facebook or anything. The only other way they could really communicate is by actually meeting with each other. Everything else we have no way to connect to," she stated, before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it back out.

"Ok, either you're frustrated about this itself, which would be very unusual for you, or something is going on. Now, are you going to tell me?" Auggie told her, determined to get it out of her.

"Well, what do you think?" she said back in the most sarcastic voice she could muster.

"I think you're frustrated because of something else obviously. Why won't you just tell me? It's not like you haven't talked to me about things before. You always tell me. Why not this time? What's so different?" he finished, turning his head in her general direction with what he supposed was a questioning look on his face.

"Auggie, you know all of that. You know everything you said is true. Well, why can't you just trust me this one time that I don't want you to know and that it's best if you don't know. Have a little faith." With that, Auggie could hear her chair legs scrape against the floor as she hastily got up. He heard her kitten heels walk away quickly. He could tell now that he had really upset her. He honestly didn't mean to, it's just that if something was bothering her like this, it had to be something big and he hated seeing her like this.

He waited a few minutes to give her her space because he knew that's what she wanted right now. However, he knew where she would be so after a few minutes, he got up, found his laser, and led himself into the ladies' bathroom where he knew Annie was hiding.

~XOX~

Annie was up and walking away as fast as she could, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over her lids. No, she couldn't be weak like this. Her training taught her how to handle things like this. She found herself at the door to the ladies' bathroom and went inside. Why couldn't he just understand? She wanted oh so badly to talk about what was on her mind but she couldn't. No, at least not to him.

What was she supposed to say? Was she just supposed to come right out and tell him that the reason that she was so frustrated and upset today was because she thought she might be falling in love with him? Hell, she didn't know what to do. She kicked open the door to one of the stalls and locked herself inside. Once she was sure he wasn't following her, she slid down to the floor and let herself just feel everything she was feeling and just let herself let it all out for a minute. If she didn't now, she would later, in front of him and she'd never hear the end of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted though when she heard footsteps entering the bathroom. She quickly stood up from where she was slouched in the stall so it wouldn't look weird. Instead, she leaned against the walls of the stall and waited to find out who it was.

She heard the click of heels and sighed in relief that it was just another woman. After a minute of calming herself down and making sure she was presentable, wiping away the tears, she unlocked the stall door and walked out of it only to come face to face with Joan.

"Annie? What's up with you?" Joan asked, only acting surprised. Truth be told, she watched her leave and thought she would innocently follow her because in the end, her fascination won over her pride. No one else had to see that though.

"What? Oh, nothing," Annie lied as smoothly as she could.

"Ok, you just look a bit flustered," Joan said softly back, giving her a small smile.

"Yeah, I was just-," and before she could finish, Annie was cut off as the door to the bathroom was opened and revealed a very curious Auggie.

"Auggie?"

"Wait. Joan?"

"Yes...would you mind explaining to me what you are doing in here?"

"Um...I guess I entered the wrong one. Sorry, my bad," Auggie smoothly lied and sidestepped out the door.

"Well that was odd," she said, turning to Annie who throughout the whole ordeal just stood there, blushing slightly and finding her kitten heels very interesting at the moment.

"Yeah, it sure was," she said looking up at Joan and then glancing at the door. "Well, I really should get back to work now Joan, excuse me." With that, she stepped around her before making a quick exit out the door.

"Oh, Annie..." Joan mumbled to herself, deciding that she should just give the whole thing up for right now. She should really be focusing on work, why did she even let it get this far? She'll figure it out later, that she's sure of, either one of them will slip up eventually and she'll catch them then. She scolded herself for getting like that and took a quick glance in the mirror to check her appearance. Something was off, she was sure, but she had no time to dwell on it. Then she silently made her way to the door to release herself back into her crazy world.