Apparently these one shots won't be in chronological order. Probably because I haven't planned them all out yet.
He felt the bed depress next to him. He opened his eyes and caught hers as she swung a leg over him to straddled him. She wore his favorite t-shirt and a mischievous smile. Auggie grinned.
"Well, good morning," he chuckled as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. His hands traveled to her hips.
"Good morning yourself, soldier," she greeted, her eyes sparked.
"To what do I owe such a wake up call?"
She smiled as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I just wanted to be the first to let you know that I love you," she said, as she leaned towards him.
"Feelings well reciprocated, Miss Walker," he murmured as he tilted his head up to meet her kiss. Before their lips could touch, gunfire erupted through his apartment. Annie slumped forward.
"Annie?" he cried as he shook her body. "Annie?" he repeated, the panic overtook him and he screamed, "Annie!"
Auggie woke up in the scream and sat up in his bed, panting hard. His heart raced, and he felt a cold sweat over his body. This was one of those times he wished turning on a light would make a difference to him. He needed comfort, and the darkness didn't help. He drew his legs up to his chest and held them there. He ran through his nightly ritual: he was OK. Annie was not dead. The bullets weren't real. This was just another nightmare. Those four affirmations were repeated until his heart and breathing returned to a normal rate. Auggie estimated it took about 15 minutes, which was better than the nights previous. He laid back down, but didn't expect to fall asleep.
This was the first time he'd seen her in a dream. Usually, they were separated by a wall, a door, or darkness. She was just a floating voice and the silence after the gunfire was all he needed to know. This time, though, he pictured her. Or at least he assumed he pictured her. His mind created a composite of all the things he'd known about her- what he knew through his senses, and what he'd heard from others. It was the most clear picture of her he'd ever made, but somehow it didn't make him feel any better.
There certainly was a lot of chatter about her in the last few days. The memorial service was yesterday, and Auggie had only put her family on a plane back to California six hours ago. He'd spent days listening to stories about Annie's childhood, her love for other cultures, & her devotion to her family and friends. He'd sat quietly during most of the conversations, and smiled politely through it all. Most of her friends and family put together that he was her boyfriend, but they assumed a relationship that started only a few weeks before her death meant that he was upset but not distraught. He'd spent most of the eulogy trying to act his cover- longtime coworker and friend who'd only recently seen what was in front of him the whole time. It barely scratched the surface, but honestly, Auggie preferred it that way. One of the difficult things about working for The Agency was that the Annie he knew and the Annie that was remembered that day lead two different lives. Auggie would rather be treated with distance than have attention focused on him. He already felt guilty enough for perpetrating a lie while people openly grieved her loss.
A few people from The Agency attended the memorial service. Stu and Barber offered Auggie awkward hugs, but made their escape rather quickly. Joan was there, too. Auggie could tell she moved slowly and still had some residual pain from the C-Section that happened days before. She assured him that she could be away from the NICU to pay her respects. Calder did not show, and Auggie was relieved. He may have helped Annie, but it was still hard for Auggie to not use him as a scapegoat for his feelings about the situation. Plus, any prying Agency eyes would expect a confrontation, and Auggie couldn't do that to Annie's family.
As he lay on his back in his bed, Auggie thought back to a conversation he'd had with Danielle as things were winding down. He sat in the corner of the hotel suite they'd rented, exhausted from the day. He felt someone move up beside him and nudge a plate into the back of his hand. He tilted his head up to the person who delivered the plate and raised his eyebrows.
"You need to eat something," he heard Danielle say tentatively. "You look like shit."
He gave a small smile. It was the most she'd said directly to him since she first arrived into town. She'd pulled him aside long enough to lambaste him for not keeping Annie safe, which she punctuated with a hard slap across his face. He stood stoically and let it happen. If she needed someone to blame, then he would be that person.
He nodded to Danielle. "What am I eating, exactly?" He tried to keep the conversation light, not entirely sure of her intentions.
"Oh, right," she said, and he could feel that she'd been caught staring at him. "Just some lasagna on the right of the plate, garlic bread on the left, and a salad on the bottom. There's a fork and knife on the left, too."
"Thank you," he said, and balanced the plate on his legs. He heard Danielle pull a folding chair across from him. She sat down, and he could feel her lean in.
"Auggie?" Danielle questioned. Auggie took a breath. It was the same way Annie would preface saying something that was difficult for her to say or him to hear. The family resemblance made his head reel. Auggie steeled himself for whatever came next. "I'm really happy that Annie and you..." her voice trailed off with her thought. There was a moment of silence before she regained her voice, "that she had you, in the end. I know we didn't talk much in the last few weeks, but I also know being with you would have made her happy, so I'm glad that happened." She rushed the last few words, and Auggie could hear the tears in her voice. His eyes teared too, and he reached out a hand in her direction, which she took.
"Thank you," he said simply as he squeezed her hand. He felt her nod her head.
Back in his loft, Auggie was still unable to sleep. The bedside clock told him it was almost 4AM. He'd only managed a few hours of sleep. With a sigh, Auggie gave up and got out of bed. He tried a drink of water and turned on the lights throughout the apartment, an attempt at the symbolism of chasing away the negative thoughts that surrounded him, but they didn't want to leave. Ultimately, he decided it was too quiet. He put on some music and moved to the last quadrant of his apartment that had not been pieced back together since the raid. He worked as he had for the last week; a meticulous sort of items as he cataloged each by touch and placed it back in its rightful spot. The work was soothing- it engaged just enough of his senses that he could almost get lost in it.
After Auggie put the last item away, he moved to the kitchen and checked the clock in there. It told him it was just after 6:30. Auggie sighed as he made a pot of coffee. Today was to be his first official day back at the office in his new tech analyst role. He set the coffee to brew and dragged himself to the shower. He hoped his new space would be as secluded as he imagined it to be. On such little sleep, he couldn't stomach forced interaction with others.