I am really delighted with the response from you all! I cannot believe the alerts etc. So, I was going to explain that I am new to this fandom, and then it occurred to me that we all are!

Not sure I love this chapter. I feel pretty shaky on writing OP's for them. Hope this works.

DISCLAIMER: School supplies yet to be purchased, yes, this lovely show and Auggie, no.

A TOLLING BELL - Chapter 2

Intel retrieval was the kind of mission they gave grass green rookies. Go to a foreign country, meet an operative, and get the intel. Back 15 years ago, it meant one of those briefcases. Today, it was a chip, a zip drive, something small and easy. The only reason it wouldn't be sent was the risk of having the communication hacked. Frequently, the exchange included moving sums of money.

Annie hadn't been given something this simple in a long time. Part of her was a little insulted. Part of her understood she needed to be eased back into the field. She was working with someone new. They needed to learn each other.

Fortunately, Howard had been around Auggie enough to have an idea of how the two worked. What he didn't have was their uncanny ability to finish each other's sentences. Auggie wasn't just in her head via earpiece, sometimes he seemed to be in her head literally. His ability to analyze the data at lightning quick speed and translate it into the information the op in the field needed was legendary. Most of the techies had never been in the field. Auggie had actually been out there. He understood how vital a roll that information played. It was the currency by which they lived in their job.

Waiting in the airport for her boarding call, Annie found herself dialing to chat with Auggie before she boarded. It was part of their routine. He pumped her up and she made him feel like he was out there with her. She called before the plane, as soon as she landed, when she got to her location, the list went on. Annie smile to herself. Her mother would have killed for this kind of access to her whereabouts as a teenager. She almost called Auggie to share that thought with him.

There. That was it. Those random thoughts and pieces of herself she shared with him constantly. It was one of those moments where she realized how big the hole in her heart felt. Ben leaving had cracked her heart. He hurt her leaving the way he did. But slowly that hurt had begun to heal. A combination of time, hard work, and a certain tech with sightless brown eyes that still managed to twinkle had worked a miracle. Ben had left, but Annie knew he was still out there somewhere. This time, there wasn't even that vague comfort. She was alone.

She could have called Howard. To be fair, he was a great guy with a decent sense of humor. Maybe one day she would be willing to share her quirky thoughts with him. But today was not that one day. Not by a long shot. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she still had a job to do.

Paris was one of those cities she loved and hated. It was beautiful and had such a deep sense of history. She hated the people. They marked Americans the way a dog marked a hydrant, by pissing on them, albeit figuratively. Once they realized who you were, you were treated like crap. She tried to adopt a more European attitude. But even with the CIA training, there was something in the confident way the tall blond moved that screamed American. Auggie said she had an ear for language but the feet of an American.

She was to meet up with the Hungarian at the base of the Eiffel tower. She was to carry a copy of the London Times turned to the financial section. Very obviously cloak and dagger. She hated those countries that got all their training from bad movies. Even worse was the dialogue some idiot thought would be clever and secretive. Generally it just sounded deranged. Usually it was discussing a tropical storm in March.

Sitting with the required paper, she amused herself by people watching. Guessing and making up back stories for stranger had always amused her. Auggie used to laugh at her crazy assumptions. There he was again.

A man approached her cautiously. Good God he was actually wearing a trench coat and hat. Why didn't he wave a neon sign saying "I am a spy"? He went past her and then circled back. Jesus, this was really awful. She was trying not to roll her eyes at him.

"Have you just come from London?"

"Yes, the trip was lovely"

"I hear the Thames might overflow"

"Not if the rain stays on the plain"

Oh this was so bad. Thank God he would then have her follow him to a café where she would retrieve the envelope in another copy of the Times. She would leave a locker key to a bus depot locker that contained the agreed money. Anyone taping the whole exchange could have inserted it unchanged into an Austin Powers movie.

She headed to the café and picked up the paper, and left hers. Heaving a sigh of relief she snapped open her phone to call Augg er, Howard. Just as she did, a small motorbike whizzed by and the passenger grabbed at Annie. She didn't let go of her bag or the paper. The force spun her around and threw her to the ground. She took off after the bike, slowly, with aching ribs she tried to ignore. Darting down an alleyway, she was grabbed from a doorway. Auggie's close combat training served her well. She fought off this attacker and was headed down to the safe house to regroup when she heard the click of a gun.

That feeling of cold metal pressed to your neck was a singular one. You felt it even as you slept weeks later. She was getting tired of feeling this. Why the hell did even the most simple of her ops wind up like this? She was beginning to feel like she had a target painted on her.

As quickly as that gun barrel had been shoved up to her, it was lifted. She heard the sickening crack of a neck and the thud of a body hitting the ground. Cautiously turning her head, she saw him again. Ben. She wasn't almost unconscious like on the subway platform. This time they were 3 feet away from each other.

"You!"

She no sooner breathed this than he reached out, touched her cheek and tried to leave. This time, she was not the same girl who cried after Sri Lanka. This Annie had been fired like steel and was just as tough. She grabbed him and twisted his arm behind him shoving him into the slimy brick wall.

"oh Hell no! You don't get to pull this crap again. What the fuck?"

Ben struggled, but not with his real strength. Somehow he knew this moment would come. Considering how often Annie was in harms' way, it was inevitable. He wasn't sure why he was surprised at her reaction. He had been watching her growing stronger and more confident. He didn't really understand why she had been pulled off the farm so soon, but she seemed to have grown into the role.

He allowed himself to stop struggling. It was time; she was owed this by now.

"Annie, not here. I have a hotel room rented just down this alley. We will talk."

Whatever reply Annie was going to make was lost as they were both grabbed. Annie gasped when she saw Jai. He was directing the agents who were cuffing and shackling Ben.

"What the FUCK!"

"Annie, not now. I will explain later. There is a car at the end of the alley. Get into and head for the airport. You are still working"

She was able to meet Ben's eyes for only a brief moment before she was hustled down the alley, protesting and fighting. Ben had put his head down. He knew and understood what was coming. It was a calculated risk he had been taking for a long time.

As she was pushed away, she could hear Jai on the phone saying, "Yeah, it worked, finally. He was right by her, this time close enough to grab. She was the key just as you thought."

Those words and the look on Jai's face haunted and taunted her all the way to the airport and on the plane back….

The story bunnies are still not sure what the hell they are doing. All they seem to know is that they love this show. Reviews and comments make the bunnies leave me stuff that makes sense. Oh, yeah and chocolate. The bunnies love chocolate. Ok, *I* love the chocolate….but you get the idea!