I don't own Covert Affairs - I just wish I did. I definitely need season three soon, or I will go insane.

Hope you like.


Chapter two.

After immense intellectual reasoning that had come down to threatening to leave the agency, Auggie had been flown to Venice with Jai, Louis and Stu. The entire flight over, Auggie couldn't do anything but let himself hope that his vengeance was finally upon him. Even if he didn't ever find out whom the White Shadow was, as long as Annie's killer was butchered. He caught himself a few times on the trip over as he almost unleashed his frustration and pent up rage on Stu and Jai, and any other courteous passengers who were also on the plane. His short temper was fusing out of control, and at one point even Stu placed his hand on his arm, reminding him that he needed to be patient. He may not be the only one who wanted Ishkoff, but he was damn sure he was the one who needed it the most. Auggie still couldn't believe someone had one over on Annie Walker. The Annie Walker he'd taught and sparred with. The Annie whose skills and talents surprised even Arthur Campbell. The Annie Walker who'd push him to go the extra mile because she knew he could. The Annie Walker he couldn't live without.

The Annie Walker he no longer felt near him.

It crushed him, day after day, knowing she wasn't there. Time hadn't healed his wounds at all. The further away he was from that last day he spent with her, the more his wounds tore open. She was a constant in his mind; her Jo Malone perfume, her clicking heels, her melodic voice, her slender figure when he hugged her and sparred with her. He kept those memories fresh hoping that some nights his memories would invade his dreams rather than anguishing nightmares. There was nothing he wouldn't give just to have her with him once again. The one thing he'd tried to do, he'd failed at. Keeping her safe was one of his top priorities and he'd failed.

Those first few weeks weren't the worst. Everyone had just witnessed it. He still drank himself to pieces on weekends, he still dreamt about her, and he still woke up screaming. But he had to rein it in at work. The apparently large hole in the plaster in his office was a reminder of that. The only thing that kept him functioning was taking revenge on Ishkoff.

Ishkoff, once a Russian militarist for the Soviet, now a large weapons handler moving shipments across the globe to different terrorist organisations, some as large and well known as Al-Qaeda. Auggie should have known that someone as well connected as Ishkoff would have found a way to get to anyone who went against him. Someone like Annie.


The equipment had been set up by Interpol and was now up and running in a beaten down grocery truck out the back of the safe house the four had been set up in. Jai and Louis were to be the eyes and feet while Stu and Auggie were to be ears and brains of the operation. Auggie had learned to accept over time that his skills would only take him so far, and that eyes were the one thing from stopping him from being out there in the field. It only stirred further frustration as it deterred him from being in the fight on the one mission he could barely refuse to back down from.

Auggie pressed the headphone button off, "You're on speaker, Joan."

"The festival starts in two days, giving us a thirty-six hour window to scour the city and find the locations we need. Stu and Auggie will be in the van roaming the city square listening for audio. Jai, Louis, you two will be at the local hotspots in San Marco Square with eyes out for Ishkoff." Joan paused for a moment, "Bring him in alive."

Auggie ground his teeth and closed his eyes. No way would he bring Ishkoff in alive.

"That's an order Auggie. We need him for interrogation and we need to find out what he knows about the other organisations."

"He deserves to die." All three men looked towards their head of Tech Ops, never have heard so much anger seething out through his words before. His knuckles white as they fisted on the equipment in front of him.

"Auggie, bring him back alive."

"I'm can't promise that."


Everything was set to go ahead according to plan. They'd found Ishkoff's villa two streets off from the main square, but they hadn't any such luck with locating Ishkoff. Despite the lack of intel on him, Auggie knew that his gut instinct was right. They were in the right place at the right time. Stu drifted to a stop a good three hundred feet away from the main entrance to the villa in the grocery truck. Coming back he fell into pace with Auggie and raised the headphones over his ears, scanning through the radars for familiar audios. There was mindless banter from the festival goers as they roamed through the streets and the square in what Auggie could only assume was elaborate costumes and glittering masks. Auggie also knew that the White Shadow was probably amongst them, disguising herself in order to get a good position to get to Ishkoff.

Not this time. They were getting there first.

"You with me Auggie?" Jai spoke conversationally into his speaker.

"Through and through. What's happening?"

"If he's disguised in one of these masks it's going to be tougher than I thought."

Auggie felt like telling him to rip every mask off he could see in order to find Ishkoff, but he took a deep breath and reined it in, "Don't try for faces Jai, look for postures and body features. Try and match up anything you can to his appearance. Look for the conspicuous types, he's not an operative remember, he's here to be seen."

"Got it Auggie."

Communication ended after resulting in Auggie and Stu looking for needles in a hay stack with the amount of people they were scanning through. It wasn't for another two hours until Louis spiked up on the speaker.

"I've got Ishkoff in sights. He's on the move near the far east corner of the square outside the Al-Tonia Restaurant, two large men on his flanks."

"Stay on him, Louis. We can't just grab him from the Square. See where he goes." Auggie had stopped breathing the moment Louis reported in with news. Letting his breath out slowly he adjusted the volume control and turned his scanning to follow where Louis had seen Ishkoff.

"He's heading towards the Dell' Opera hotel. I can't get a hold of Jai.

Auggie could hear the swarm of people around Louis as he wiped his hand down his face. One of his eyes was M.I.A. and the other had only just enough experience in the field that could trump a techie, "Don't draw any attention to yourself Louis, just follow swiftly." Auggie pulled down his headphones, "Stu pull the van up into the alley closest to that hotel, I need better ears."
Auggie began tuning each of the channels trying to get a hold of Jai. It was usually standard of operatives losing or breaking their earpiece, but things were going to get messy if everything else began spiralling out of control.

Auggie felt the van jerk, then begin rolling at a steady pace along the street. Before rolling to a stop. "Uh... Auggie? We've got a situation here."

Auggie turned his head towards the front of the van in Stu's direction, "What is it?"

"Road blocks, man. No traffic going in or out near the square."

"Damn it." He needed close to that building.

"What do you want to do?"

The back doors to the van swung open as Jai's intensely strong cologne wafted into Auggie's face. "Ear piece went out."

"Auggie focused intently in the direction of where he'd heard Jai's voice, "Louis is in the Hotel Dell' Opera tailing Ishkoff, I need an extra set of eyes and ears in there with him," Auggie turned his head to the side in order to speak to where he assumed Stu was, "Are the road blocks on the other side blocking the hotel?"

"Not that I can see."

"Head round to the back of the hotel alleyway." Auggie heard the back doors open and close shut as Jai headed back out into the night with a new ear piece.

Auggie felt the van swing around as Stu manoeuvred it out of the tiny street.

When the van came to a halt, Auggie turned in again to the surrounding banter than was echoing throughout the hotel lobby. Angling it slightly lifted the voices into a higher level, putting the speakers on the second level of the hotel. "Jai where are you in the hotel?"

"Tenth floor, south corner." His voice was hushed and Auggie came to the conclusion that now was the time for zero communication if he wanted both operatives back in one piece.

A woman's voice echoed faintly through the speaker for the channel Auggie was listening to, and noticed the Russian dialect. Quickly switching the translation on, Auggie felt through the brail the words she had spoken. "I've waited for this day, Ishkoff."

Then he heard Ishkoff's voice in English, "So have I."

A series of gunshots echoed through the headset and Auggie switched his attention back to Jai, "Jai, what's happening?"

"Ishkoff's heading down the fire escape." Auggie could hear his heavy breath as he ran about on the tenth floor. Then it struck Auggie. Ishkoff had already half way escaped.

Throwing off his head phones Auggie pulled out his can and folded it up, they were about a car space away from the back of the building where the fire escape was and he was the only person close enough with the skills to bring down Ishkoff. Jumping out against Stu's words of protests, Auggie quickly made his was towards the building, feeling around for the bottom of the grated stairs. This was probably the only chance they were going to get to finally have Ishkoff and he was damned if he was going to let him slip through their fingers.

Auggie stepped to the side and felt the light of the streetlamp fall away as he stepped into the shadows of the stairs. It was a moment before he talked the person to the ground that he noticed the thumping of feet coming down the stairs was too light for Ishkoff's build. He threw his entire body and crashed into the person who'd just about bounded down the stairs on dainty feet.

It was then he felt the slender figure beneath him and the light breath coming from the panting figure.

But what halted any further attack on the figure beneath him was the faint smell of Jo Malone grapefruit.


Next chapter up shortly. Please Read and Review - I need to hear your thoughts!