Here's the 2nd chapter. It's all Auggie's POV. I hope you like it.

June 13th: Did a small clean up job, cleaned up a few mistakes that was called to my attention in a PM. :o)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Covert Affairs, I just like to play with the characters.

-Chapter 2-

Three months before the 1st chapter.

Auggie was just about ready to head out the door when his landline phone rang. When the caller ID announced an "unknown caller" he figured it was his driver calling to tell him he hadn't been able to park just outside his building and where he could find him. He picked up the handset of the phone on the kitchen counter and answered the call.

"Yes?"

"Auggie, this is Dr. Kessle."

Hearing who was on the other end of the call immediately had Auggie's curiosity piqued. He hadn't heard from him since he rejected him for experimental treatments about eight months earlier.

"Dr. Kessle? What can I do for you today?"

"It's more a question of what I can do for you Auggie. We have a new experimental treatment and this time you're a perfect candidate."

"Really?" Disbelief laced Auggie's voice. After the rejection the previous fall he'd pretty much written off any hope of ever seeing again. "What kind of results are you hoping for?"

"We've had very good results on patients with injuries similar to yours with partial sight. Some of them have regained almost perfect vision. You'd be the first completely blind patient we try it on, so I don't really know what your results might be, but there's a chance you'll regain at least some sight. I can't promise anything though."

"Sign me up doc. When?"

"Unfortunately we don't have much time. You'd have to be admitted to the hospital by the end of the week and I need you to clear the following three months off your calendar."

"Shit..." Auggie breathed out. Arranging for a three-month leave on a few days notice seemed like an impossible task. "Not so sure my boss will go along with that, but I'll request a meeting as soon as I arrive at work. I was just leaving when you called."

"I'll need an answer as soon as possible, you have my number, right?"

"Yes. Thank you Dr. Kessle. I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Auggie's brain was working on high gear the entire ride to Langley. What Dr. Kessle had told him was mind blowing and he hoped Joan was in an understanding mood. He also hoped she'd allow him to call Annie and talk about it. He needed to talk it through with someone, and he wanted that someone to be Annie. He cursed the fact that she was on an undercover mission that was expected to take up to four months. She'd only been gone for a month, so he couldn't count on having her support in the hospital. He'd have to go through it alone, there was no one else he could imagine having with him. Auggie was so distracted with his thoughts that he kept his white cane out too keep out of trouble as he made his way through the endless maze of corridors towards the DPD and his office. As he settled down by his desk he folded his cane and placed it next to the phone and quickly dialed Joans extension. She picked up on the first ring.

"Good morning Auggie. What can I do for you?"

"Mornin' Joan. There's something I need to discuss with you, can I have a few minutes of your time this morning?"

"Of course. Come over to my office, my schedule is clear at the moment."

"Thanks, I'll be right there," Auggie said, pushing the button to end the call. He stashed his white cane away and withdrew the laser cane from the drawer and turned it on. Within a couple of minutes he was seated in one of the chairs in front of Joan's desk. He immediately rambled away about Dr. Kessle's call that morning, every fiber of him begging for Joan to approve his leave.

"I'll approve a three month medical leave Auggie, I understand what this means to you. I do require a weekly check in from you while you're on leave, as soon as you're released from the hospital. As for your second request I'm denying it. You know how important this mission is and we can't afford for Annie to be distracted. Knowing her she'd probably be on the first available flight here to be there for you. I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to tell her about it until she returns."

Auggie nodded in understanding and tried to swallow the disappointment. Part of him was elated. Joan had given him the green light to go ahead with the treatment. After what Dr. Kessle had told him he couldn't help being optimistic, hopeful that he'd be able to regain at least some sight.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Little over a week later Auggie was in a hospital bed, fidgeting with the edges of the sheet and blanket covering the lower part of his body, he was getting restless. It had been four days since Dr. Kessle had performed the procedure and his eyes were heavily bandaged and taped shut. Now it was time to remove the bandages and find out if the treatment had been successful. He was just waiting for Dr. Kessle and a nurse to return to his room. The sound of the door opening and two sets of footsteps approaching him caught his attention.

"Ready to remove the bandages?" Dr. Kessle asked.

Auggie nodded. He was beyond nervous and couldn't manage to get a word out. He wished Annie was there with him.

"Right then, if you just sit on the edge of the bed, we'll get started."

Auggie pulled the covers back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Soon he felt Dr. Kessle starting to remove the bandages. As he got ready to remove the tape on Auggie's eyelids he instructed Auggie to keep his eyes shut until it was removed on both eyes and then open his eyes slowly. Auggie struggled to keep himself calm as the doctor removed the tape.

"Ok, you can open your eyes when you're ready," Dr. Kessle said as he removed the last piece of tape. Taking a deep breath Auggie opened his eyes; the light that hit him startled him. He blinked a few times and to his pleasure and surprise he was able to make out the room in front of him and the two people standing in front of him with expectant look on their faces. The images were fuzzy, but they were there, he could see. Although Auggie rarely let his emotions get the best of him, this time he couldn't hold back the tears that rolled silently from his eyes. He sniffled and wiped the tears away with a big grin on his face. From what he could make out of Dr. Kessle's face he understood what was going on. He firmly squeezed Auggies shoulder; he wanted to let him have some time to process it before pushing to find out exactly what he was seeing.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

"Hi Auggie, how is it going?" Joan greeted him as he called her for his weekly check in. It had been almost two and a half months since the surgery and Auggie had been at home for the past month and a half. He was getting restless and anxious to get back to work. He'd initially been a little disappointed when he'd realized that the procedure hadn't given him enough sight to get his drivers license back or for him to fill the physical requirements to be fully authorized field officer, but he'd soon come to the realization that he needed to be thankful for what he'd gotten. It was more than he'd dared to hope for. To be able to read print again, actually watch movies and see what was on the screen of the computer in front of him was a gift he'd cherished.

"Getting better Joan, headaches are persistent, but they are fewer and farther between. Now it generally happens if I've been straining my eyes too much. Which I do a lot of, it's hard not to."

"I can only imagine. Listen Auggie, Annie is on her way home from her mission and she's been asking about you. The mission has been keeping her pretty busy, but I'll have to tell her something when she comes back."

"I'd really like to tell her myself Joan. Could you ask her to come over to my place after work tonight?"

"Sure, I can manage that. Listen, I've talked to Arthur and there's no way we can fully authorize you as a field officer. There are certain physical requirements, and you're still pretty far away from meeting the one regarding sight."

Auggie let out a very audible sigh. He'd expected this, he was well aware that his sight didn't meet the requirements, but he'd still hoped they'd be able to make an exception. After all he'd done some good fieldwork when he was completely blind and he thought that ought to count for something.

"But," Joan continued. "You will be allowed out in the field again, but we'll have to decide when on a mission-to-mission basis, okay?"

Auggie perked up immediately. He would be getting back into the field, sanctioned. He knew the missions wouldn't be the riskiest ones, but he was just happy he'd be getting out from behind his desk with the Agency's blessing.

"Thank you Joan. Glad to hear it," he said in the most professional, measured tone he could muster. They chatted for a few more minutes and Joan promised to let Annie know he wanted her to come over when she got off work. He was nervous about it, wondering how Annie would react to the news and anxious to actually see the woman that had managed to become one of the most important people in his life over the past couple of years.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Thirty minutes after Annie had called and asked if he wanted her to come over a knock sounded on his door. He quickly crossed the floor in his apartment and slid the door open, not bothering to ask who was there. He fought hard to act as normal as possible; she was just as beautiful as the image he'd made of her in his minds eye.

"Hi Auggie, you look much better than I expected," she greeted him with a broad smile.

"Well thanks for that Walker, I've missed you too," he quipped, somewhat sarcastically, he almost grasped the bag of food from her, but he stopped himself and held out his hand in her direction. "I'll take the food."

Annie placed the bag in his hand and he headed for the kitchen and set the bag down on the kitchen island. He leaned against it and watched Annie entering, closing and locking the door behind her. After slipping off her stillettos (how on earth could he have mistaken those for kitten heels?) she looked around his apartment. He wondered when she'd put everything together. He knew the lighting was brighter than she was used to, he watched as she noticed his new TV and then her eyes landed on the book he was reading, with his glasses sitting on top of it. A look of wonder and happiness came to her face and she looked over at him, expectantly and she breathed his name, barely above a whisper. He made eye contact with her and nodded, she quickly crossed over to where he was standing and wrapped her arms around his neck. He reciprocated and pulled her in for a warm embrace and whispered "You're just as beautiful as I imaginied" into her hair. A wave of relief flooded over him, she hadn't expressed any anger or distrust, just happiness for him.

As Auggie locked his door behind Annie a few hours later he was relieved. He'd wondered about how to break the news about the experimental treatment, and eventually the unexpected positive results, to Annie since he was admitted to the hospital three months earlier. Thankfully his approach, with a little help from Joan, had worked and their friendship seemed to be as solid as ever. Annie had seemed genuinely happy for him and the conversation had flowed easily between them. He had used the evening to soak in her appearance and how she moved. He loved how expressive her face was and her wide smile was about the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "Seen," he thought with a small smile on his face. It was still surreal to him that he was able to see again and he'd never again take the gift of sight for granted, that was for sure.

Two weeks after the first chapter

When Auggie's alarm clock started blaring at 5:45 am he'd already been awake for almost an hour. He hadn't slept much at all that night, he'd mostly been tossing and turning. He was going back to work and he felt just as nervous about going back there seeing as he'd felt when he came back to work after losing his sight. To his relief Annie had taken the 'new and improved' version of him in a stride, her reaction had been his biggest worry. He had been afraid of losing his best friend. Seeing her for the first time had been mindboggling, she'd brought every mental image he'd put together of her to shame. He realized that one thing that had actually been a blessing with being blind was that he didn't have the benefit of judging people by their looks, and he'd appreciated Annie's personality rather than her appearance. If he'd met her with working eyes he probably would've hit on her and tried to make her another notch on his bedpost, which had been his usual way of treating hot girls for years. After he was blinded it had become a way of proving to himself that he was still attractive. In the three years he'd known Annie he hadn't thought about her as anything but a friend. She'd been his best friend and confidante, and he had been hers. She was one of the few people he'd let in and opened up to. He was truly grateful for her friendship, the way she'd treated him as an equal from the moment they met had told him a lot about the kind of person she was. Seeing her had woken some other feelings in him, it had made him want to push their relationship past the friendship zone, but he was unsure of what to do about it, if anything. These thoughts had been rattling around in his head for the past week or so, causing him more than one sleepless night.

With a groan Auggie sat up in bed and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes while pushing his emotional quandaries to the back of his mind. It was time to get ready for work, Annie had promised to pick him up on her way to Langley. The initial disappointment he'd felt when it was clear that his sight wasn't good enough for him to get his drivers license back had subsided, he'd realized that what he'd gotten was more than he'd ever dreamed of and he should be thankful that he didn't have to live the rest of his life in the dark.
He pulled the covers back and swung is legs over the side of the bed, before standing up and stretching. He made a detour to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and pop a bagel in the toaster before he headed for the bathroom. As he passed the front door he heard the thump of the Washington Post landing on his doormat. The sound brought a smile to his face as he entered his bathroom. Reading the morning paper while eating breakfast had always been one of his favorite things and he was grateful to have that back. After taking a shower, shaving and brushing his teeth he got dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a light gray tailored shirt. He also grabbed a dark grey blazer off the hanger.

An hour later he'd finished his bagel, two cups of coffee and he'd read the Washington post. He checked the time; Annie should be arriving soon. He placed his reading glasses in their case and put them in the inside pocket of his blazer with his employee ID. Just as he picked up his wallet and keys his iPhone buzzed with an incoming text; Annie was 5 minutes away. The weather was nice, so he figured he could wait for her outside. For a second he considered bringing his cane, but he planned on coming home before dark so he shouldn't need it. A few minutes later Annie pulled up and her choice of vehicle brought a big grin to Auggie's face; she was driving his 'Vette that he'd given to her the previous fall.

"I figured you should arrive back at Langley in style," she said in a way of a greeting as he got in.

"Well, thank you Miss Walker," Auggie said with a grin as Annie pulled into traffic.

A few minutes into the drive Annie glanced over at Auggie, he seemed to be nervous.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little bit nervous. I remember the feeling from when I returned to work after losing my sight, wondering how people will react."

"Auggie, everyone at work is so happy for you, Joan sprung the news on Friday and you have nothing to worry about."

"I sure hope not," he sighed, and then a small smile crossed his face. "I'm looking forward to seeing my office and the ops center you know."

Annie reached over and squeezed his forearm, a habit she'd developed not long after she got to know Auggie. She knew their relationship was more based on touch than what was normal between friends, but with Auggie's blindness their non verbal communication had to be that way. They both secretly wished it wouldn't stop, even with Auggie's sight partly restored.

"Thanks Annie," he said with a smile.

Very keen to hear what you think.

As long as the criticism is constructive it's appreciated.

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