Joan POV

I calmly walked into Arthur's office, my head held high as I walked right up to his desk.

"Why didn't you tell me that Jai was going to be in on this?"

He put down the file he was reading, taking off his reading glasses in one swift movement.

"It was in the fine print."

"Damn, Arthur, we both know very well that I didn't have time to read the whole entire case summary before I had to give it to Annie. Now I'll ask you again, why didn't you tell me?"

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes, "Because I knew that you would say no. You don't understand, Joan, Jai is a good field operative, and Annie is going to need all the help she can get to just get back home in one piece. Now I respect that you're trying to protect her but-

"I'm not trying to protect anybody, I just want to know why you assigned Jai and not Marshalls or Stevens, they're both qualified."

I dug down deeper, looking him in the eye, waiting to see if my previous assumptions were true.

"Arthur," I whispered quietly, my tone softer, "Please be honest with me."

We glared at each other

, I felt his eyes become soft once again. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I assigned him to this because I needed a little bird to tell me what exactly is going on there. He requested the mission before I could even put out fliers to look for someone. I don't trust him, Joan, but I know that he would never get Annie killed."

I was silent for a minute as I contemplated what I had just heard.

"If you needed information on what was going on, you could've just asked me," I replied coolly.

He shook his head, "You aren't going to be there every minute of every day; he is."

I leaned over his desk, laying my hands on the sleek mahogany.

"What makes this op so much more different that you have to get Jai involved when he has his own department to run?"

"If this goes well, it could just possibly save both our jobs."

He went back to looking at the file.

Annie POV

The hangar rocked back and forth, the roar of the engine deafening as we cruised through the air.

"How you holding up?" Jai yelled over the noise.

"I'm fine!" I answered, looking back over the case files.

The operative that we were sent to reach actually wasn't an operative; he was an asset, one that was caught while doing a simple switch with one of our agents. He had originally worked in the Peace Corps but has been missing for 2 weeks now.

I couldn't concentrate; maybe it was because of the shaking hangar that gave me the sense that we were falling out of the sky, or maybe it was because I was going to see him again for the first time in four months.

The thought made my heart clench; what was I going to say? How was I going to keep things professional?

I was so caught up in my thoughts that when the plane did a sharp ninety degree turn, I almost fell forward, the only thing keeping me from tumbling around the hangar was Jai's arm, flung across my collarbone.

I tangled my hands in the netting and gave him a nod of thanks, waiting for the plane to settle down.

Suddenly, the co-pilot approached us, giving Jai a quick nod.

"We're beginning our descent into Eritrea, get ready."

We both nodded, and I felt my heart beat in my throat as the plane suddenly began to drop. I bit my lip to keep the little moan from jumping out of my throat as we continued to fall. My hands twisted themselves even more firmly in the netting, hoping that this would be over soon.

As if on cue, we hit the sandy desert, jolting me backwards.

I waited for the roar of the engines to shut off before removing my earmuffs.

"First time in a hangar, Annie?" I could practically hear the smirk in Jai's voice.

"Yeah, not fun," I mumbled, slightly out of breath as the doors of said cursed piece of transportation opened.

Immediately, we were enveloped in the stinging brightness of the morning sun, making me feel immediately over dressed.

I grabbed my duffel and followed Jai out of the hangar, turning away as it took off, leaving us in the middle of the desert.

"Our ride should be here any minute, so hurry up and change," Jai ordered, throwing my way a pair of cargo pants and a tight green t-shirt.

At my incredulous look he laughed, "What, did you expect to go into the Peace Corps with a blouse and a skirt?"

"Turn around," I mumbled as I quickly pulled my blouse off and slide into the t-shirt, noting the way it fit me like a glove. I shimmed out of my skirt and pulled on the pants.

"I said don't look, Jai," I tossed over my shoulder.

He cleared his throat, "Sorry."

I had a feeling he wasn't sorry at all.

Suddenly, the roar of a Jeep came our way, making me look up from lacing my boots.

"Ride's here!" Jai called, picking up both our bags, he quickly approached the vehicle. I followed behind him, quickly getting into the back.

"Anderson, nice to see you again."

I froze. No. No, this can't be it already, I can't run into him now. It can't be him, what are the chances that he would be picking us up?

"Wilcox, can't say the same."

That was his voice. The smooth baritone and the sarcasm that flowed so smoothly from his lips like water was hard to miss. Plus his distinguished cologne, though faint, was still detectable.

I allowed myself to turn slightly and look over my shoulder, to see the ends of his soft brown hair curling at the nape of his neck. I couldn't see his face.

"Well, if you're not glad to see me you should be glad to know that—

I caught Jai's eye and quickly gave him a shake of my head, putting my finger to my lips to tell him to be quiet.

He mouthed a silent why but I just shook my head in return.

"Cat got your tongue, Jai?"

Jai cleared his throat, "Sorry, I thought I saw something up ahead. Turned out to be just a scorpion."

Auggie nodded, "Yeah, there's a lot of them here. Damn things always got in my way."

A silence hung in the jeep as the driver, still a mystery, throttled on towards the camp. I kept my breathing shallow and looked straight ahead, watching the tents of the Peace Corps suddenly sprout from the never ending grains of sand.

"We're here, home sweet home," Auggie chirped, getting out of the jeep.

I followed him and felt his hand brush against my arm, making my breath catch in my throat. Time stopped.

I didn't have to turn around to know that he had frozen to the spot where he was standing, just like me.

"Parker, what are you doing? Let's go."

Parker? Who the hell was Parker?

"Auggie what are you talking about, I'm right here."

I turned around to see that our mystery driver was now in front of us, turning back and giving him a questioning look. She walked back towards us and smiled at me.

"I'm sorry, you might not know it, but Auggie's blind, he thought you were me for a second."

I nodded, plastering a smile to my face, so this is why you're still here, Auggie, I thought.

Now I knew why he wasn't coming back; because he was happy here, he had finally found a girl that he was genuinely in love with. And that girl, by fate, wasn't me.

Auggie POV

I hopped out of the car, my hand brushing up against soft skin. Suddenly, my breath caught in my throat. I caught a faint whiff of . . . no . . . it couldn't be . . . grapefruit?

I instantly began to feel for that same contact again, wanting to hold onto it, but I couldn't find that soft skin anymore. The sun's getting to you, I thought.

"Parker, what are you doing? Let's go," I called, assuming that I had accidentally brushed up against her by mistake.

There was a light pause, "Auggie what are you talking about, I'm right here."

Her voice sounded directly northeast of me, a few yards ahead. That couldn't have been her. Then was it really her? Was it really Annie?

I felt a familiar hand grasp my bicep again and almost sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry, you might not know it, but Auggie's blind. He thought you were me for a second."

I froze again, who was she talking to? It wasn't Jai, so who else had he brought along?

I refused to let myself hope, trying to remain neutral, waiting for the mystery operative to respond with bated breath.

When she didn't, I felt Parker tug me along. I turned back, trying to desperately see who the person was, but knew that it was futile.

Was it really Annie?

Annie POV

The way she grasped his arm, the way he fell into step beside her, it all looked so natural. She was good match for him too, I realized, she would take care of him.

Then why the hell do I feel like crap?

Because he didn't even know that you were there, I answered, bottling up those feelings for later. I had plenty of time to mourn over my own heart when I got home to my empty apartment, where no one would hear me.

Jai fell into step beside me, a good five yards separating us from Auggie and Parker.

"What's going on?" He whispered in my ear.

I shook my head, "I don't want him to know that I'm here yet. It's best if he doesn't."

"Why? He's going to find out eventually, and he does he'll be super pissed and super thrilled."

"I'd rather just lay low for now, it's better if he doesn't know I'm here."

It's better if you don't have to face him, that way, there's a less likely of a chance you'll get hurt.