Hey guys,

Here is the next chapter. Much thanks to my beta luvtheheaven.

Disclaimer: I don´t own Annie or Auggie, sadly.

What happened last: She saw a cane leaning on the wall and a brown haired man sitting at a desk. He seemed vaguely familiar but she couldn´t place him. "Hey, Auggie. I have Ms. Walker for you." Auggie looked up and faced the two women in his bureau. He immediately looked at Annie and was about to say something…

"You?" a wide eyed Auggie angrily asked in the direction of the newcomer entering his workspace. His calm features immediately changed to tense. Joan seemed both shocked and worried, and Annie looked like a deer in headlights. "Just sit over there, Ms. Walker. That´s your chair." Annie took the chair and sat down.

"Auggie, will you come to my office for just a second? Now," Joan said and turned out of the office. A defeated Auggie stood up slowly, careful not to fall again for a third time in two days. He walked slowly toward the handle of his walking cane, grabbed it with his right hand, and followed Joan out of his office.

Annie had seen the man named August Anderson stand up to obey the order of Ms. Campbell. He´d struggled to get upright, then walked-limped to the corner where the walking cane leaned and retrieved it.

Annie questioned to herself why this young man walked as if he had two damaged legs like he had arthritis or something similar. As she thought about it, she finally remembered where she had met him. Her new boss was the person whom she crushed into at the park. Her curiosity grew and her head filled with another question: why was he able to run in the park? It was really confusing. It couldn´t be something temporary, she thought, because he used the cane like a pro. Hopefully she didn´t lose this job before she even started it. She knew her reaction in the park had been a bit on the rude side, but she had been embarrassed down to her pink undergarments! Running away was all she could do at that moment.

She decided to get up and look around, since she hadn´t seen this many technical devices in only one room before; she was curious about what all the little boxes could do or could be used for….

Meanwhile in Joan´s office…
"Auggie, where did the charming young man disappear to just two seconds ago? What´s wrong?" Joan demanded to know. Auggie walked up to one of the desk chairs and lowered himself like an old man, which broke Joan´s heart all over again. She had been there for some steps of Auggie´s life, like his first mission and his first walk in the park after the IED; she had known him for more than 6 years. Auggie adjusted his seating and thought about what to say to his boss who also happened to be a friend. "Joan, I know you said I should be my charming self, but this woman bumped into me yesterday in the park where I was jogging. I fell down and all she bothered to give me was a quick sorry without even looking at me or asking me if I was ok!" Auggie told her the whole thing getting more and more aggravated as each word flowed out of his mouth. Joan understood. This young man had a lot of problems to deal with, and someone behaving as it seemed had happened would trigger a lot of self-doubting and a lot more. "Auggie, did you think about the fact that she was probably just embarrassed that she didn´t see you coming up, and maybe she didn´t even realize that you might have any problem getting up from the ground? Maybe she didn´t even register that you have prosthetics´? Did this even cross your mind?" Joan watched Auggie closely; he seemed to be thinking about what she´d suggested and the more he processed it, the more he was clearly getting self-conscious. This was an Auggie Joan didn´t want. This fine young man shouldn´t endure what he clearly did. Everything that happened in the desert up to the loss of a beloved one - it all just wasn´t fair. She couldn´t help being the way she was towards him. Auggie didn´t need her handling him with kid gloves. He was a man who was just happened to be a veteran with devastating injuries, not a half man as she knew he considered himself. "Auggie, just go into your office and be welcoming. Don´t let this encounter stress you or her out. Just start over and make a nice supervisor/employee connection. Ok?" With that, he knew he was dismissed. He took his cane stood up and walked out of the room, shoulders hanging as usual.

As he walked up to his office he saw Annie Walker looking around his office. She zeroed in on his desk and his wooden lucky charm which was in the form of his unit´s symbol. It was the same symbol he´d had tattooed on his back - a constant reminder of his past. He stepped into the room.

"Ms. Walker being nosey?"

She blushed and stuttered, "Sorry".

-"Is this the only verbal response I´m going to get from you? He smiled at her, showing her he was at least partially kidding, before continuing.

"As you may know by now, I´m August Anderson and will be your supervisor. Please tell me about yourself, while you go to get your chair - over here."

With that, he leaned his cane back into the corner and walked up to his desk under the curious eyes of his newest team member. He eased himself into his chair and waited for Annie to do what she was asked.

She grabbed the chair and rolled it over.

"Mr. Anderson, I´m sorry for everything…Oops! Again the "s" word… I´m an army brat and I know by now that you have some connection to the Special Forces, and I´m rambling... ." She was getting redder with every word.

She told him about her education, plus everything she had done after receiving her degree in linguistics.

When she finished, he said, "Ms. Walker maybe we should start over and forget what happened yesterday. By the way, I´m just Auggie - not Mr. Anderson - and I hope that we´ll be able to get along."As he said it, that he offered her his hand to shake. She took it and pumped it quite hard for a woman.

"I´m Annie, and this means I´m not fired?"

"No, why would you think you were?" Auggie asked, confused.

-"I thought that you would want to fire me because of what happened yesterday. I´m just really sorry about that… and I hope this wasn´t me," she added, pointing nervously to the cane in the corner.

"No it´s not your fault," he reassured her."And we will leave it at that ok?" Auggie finished, clearly dismissing the subject. He opened the middle desk drawer and pulled out a folder with something that had to be translated from the German language to English. "Annie, here is your first assignment. Read it, and if you have questions please ask me. Here is your password and everything you need to get started." With that, she knew she was dismissed. She just hoped she could form a connection with her boss. He seemed to be friendly but really guarded.

This is the second chap. Please review and if you have suggestions I´m open. Contact me or review it and I will see to it.