Thank you so much for the warm reception of this story :o) Every review, favorite & story alert is a greatly appreciated and here's your reward; the second chapter.

SOOOO excited about next weeks episode of Covert Affairs; A&A in Barcelona! :o)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Annie, Auggie or Covert Affairs :o)

-Chapter 3-

"Um…Annie?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Do you think we could swing by my apartment sometime before we head back to Reston? I don't have many clothes at the center and I was hoping maybe you could help me get a few things together before we head back tomorrow?"

"Sure, it's just over in Adams Morgan, right?"

"Yeah. It shouldn't be too far from here," Auggie said, giving her his address.

"That's not far from here at all, it's actually within walking distance, we could walk over there after lunch if you want to."

"Yeah, fresh air sounds good to me. The weather seems to be nice today."

"It's a bit overcast now, but it looks like it's breaking up. Patches of blue are starting to appear."

A wave of sadness washed over Auggie as he realized that he'd never see that again. That he'd never see again, period. He quickly pushed those thoughs away; he wouldn't allow himself to wallow in self-pity like that; nothing good would come from that.

"Something wrong?" Annie asked, she'd seen the flicker of emotion passing Auggie's face. He hung his head for a minute, not sure what to say, he was afraid of appearing whiny.

"Just a seconds realization that I'll never see again. As much as this" he waved a hand in front of his face, "is starting to feel normal sometimes it hits me hard. I'm fine," he said with a small smile. Annie grasped his hand and squeezed it. "Thanks Annie," he said quietly. One of the things he appreciated most about her was that she knew when to keep quiet instead of trying to make him feel better. She understood his need to work through things in his own mind. After sitting in silence for a few minutes Annie got up and suggested that they'd have lunch and then head over to Auggie's apartment.

Late in the afternoon Auggie was sitting on the edge of the bed, tying his shoelaces. Annie's friends would be there shortly and he tried his best to tame the butterflies flittering around his stomach. He took a deep breath, grasped his cane from the bed next to him and stood up. After unfolding the cane and tapping it twice to make sure it was locked he carefully made his way down to the kitchen where Annie was preparing dinner.

"Hey there, wanna give me a hand?" she greeted him as he entered the room.

"Not sure how much help I can be," he replied hesitantly.

"I know there's a cooking class at the center. Surely you can slice cucumber or something?"

A small smile came across Auggie's face. "Yes, I can slice a cucumber. I'll prepare the salad."

"Good," Annie stated, placing several items on the counter. After guiding Auggie to the spot she described the locations of everything and let him get to work. About fifteen minutes later he proudly presented the finished result of his work to Annie just as the doorbell rang.

"That looks great Auggie," she said patting his arm. "I'll get the door."

Auggie simply nodded as he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel. The butterflies in his stomach were back.

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Half an hour later Auggie's nerves were pretty much gone. Annie's buddy, Stu, was a computer science major and he and Auggie had plenty to talk about. Stu's girlfriend Laura was a linguistics major like Annie and they'd been immersed in a conversation about a project they were doing together pretty much since they'd settled down by a round table on the patio.

"How long have you been with Logic software?" Stu asked Auggie.

"I started as a developer at their Chicago office when I returned after my first tour in Iraq. A couple of years ago the transferred me to the DC office where I took over as the head of the security software department. I'd worked there for little over a year when I got asked to do the second tour in Iraq last year. I'm due back at work in about three and a half months."

"There's plenty of adaptive tech available to make that possible, right? I must admit I don't know much about it."

"There is. I didn't know much about it myself until lately. Since I didn't need it I didn't pay much attention to it before. I need to get more proficient with Braille before I learn how to use it properly. I've played with it a bit in the computer lab and it seems easy enough once I'm fluent in Braille. Enough about that. What sort of work do you want to do after graduation?"

"Security software or maybe automation systems. I'll be finishing my Bachelors degree in the spring, but I'm considering getting a Masters. Just not sure if I'm up for another year of study or if I should just get a job. Do you have a Masters?"

"I've got a Masters. I was actually pretty decided on settling for a Bachelors degree, but my counselor convinced me that I should do a Masters. It only meant an extra year of study and since I didn't have a job lined up I went for it. I don't regret it, but if I'd had a job waiting I probably wouldn't have done it."

"The year's just getting started, so I have a while before I'll have to decide what to do. If I get a good job offer I might go for it."

"Sounds like a plan," Auggie agreed as he snaked his hand out and located his beer bottle.

"Need a new one?" Annie asked as he drained it and set the empty bottle down on the table.

"Yes please," he said with a smile. The night was going much more smoothly than he'd dared to hope for and he wasn't feeling on edge and nervous any more; to his surprise he was relaxed and enjoying himself. He had a feeling he'd found a buddy in Stu and he was glad Annie had introduced them.

"Thanks for taking care of me this weekend," Auggie said to Annie Sunday afternoon. They were in her car, heading back to the rehab facility. "It was better than I dared to hope for. I actually had a good time."

"It looked like you and Stu hit it off," Annie stated.

"We did. He's a great guy and we have a lot in common, since we're both computer geeks," Auggie said with a small smile.

"I had a feeling you two would like each other. Not that either of you are typical geeks."

"What do you mean?" Auggie didn't understand what Annie was getting at.

"Well, you're both fit, work out and you don't wear nerdy t-shirts and constantly talk tech."

"You obviously didn't look to closely at my wardrobe yesterday," Auggie stated with a teasing smirk.

"Huh? What are you getting at?"

"I have a drawer full of geeky t-shirts. Atari, Nintento.. I even have a classic '1-up' tee. They're awesome."

"Oh really… I guess I must've missed that drawer," Annie said with a laugh.

"I really hope I'm the only one in this car in need of a white cane. If I'm not please call a cab for me, I'd like to return to the rehab facility alive."

"Don't worry. I'll get you back there in one piece Auggie," Annie stated firmly, giving his arm a squeeze. Auggie turned toward her with a smile on his face; the first smile Annie had seen that actually extended to his eyes. He was truly happy to have Annie walker in his life and he couldn't help thinking that as much as he hated the fact that he would never see again he was also grateful for the explosion in Iraq. Without it they would probably never have met each other.

Please let me know what you think in a review.

As long as it's constructive it's appreciated :o)