A/N: My sincerest apologies! I know it's been forever and a half since I've updated this, but school's been getting the best of me and if it's not school stress then it's home stress and I just want to lock myself away from it all for a day or two. Good news: I got that new iPod and my laptop back. Bad news: my laptop's hard drive was wiped. Luckily, my back-ups were on my home computer, but I basically lost all of my music. No big, it's only music that I can download again at a later time.

I'm working on the update for Acta, for all you Acta Sanctorum readers. You might hate me a bit after you read it, so I won't say any more to that. It's unknown as to when I'll update this again or update the other story, but know that I'm working as hard as I can to get the update out.

Thanks a billion to all those that have read, reviewed, and subscribed thus far! You guys are awesome!

Disclaimer: Covert Affairs belongs to Matt Corman and Chris Ord. Sadly, none of it belongs to me.

Can You Save Me?

The naked truth is always better
than the best dressed lie.

Ann Landers

Chapter Three

"Wow," Annie breaths.

Next to her, Auggie hums in agreement. Perhaps he had nothing to worry about this morning. A little nagging thought remains in his mind but he pays no mind to it. He doesn't want to think about all of the possible negatives when he's got a positive thing right next to him.

He turns to her, placing a kiss on her neck and then trails kisses up to her lips. She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her while deepening the kiss. It's bliss for him as their lips move in sync, but he can't help but feel a foreboding aura around them.

He pulls away slowly, resting his forehead on hers. "How's about you and me order some delivery, watch a movie?"

Just as she's about to give him her response, her phone rings from the nightstand next to them. Auggie groans, rolling off and resting on his back while she answers the call.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll be there in a few!" she says, and then hangs up immediately after. At no point did Auggie hear a word from the person on the other line.

"What's wrong?" he asks, turning to her.

"My sister. I forgot I had made plans with her and the family tonight." Annie shuffles out of bed, and by the sound of her footsteps he deduces that she's frantically running to and fro in search of her clothing. "Rain check on the dinner and movie?"

"Yeah," he replies, rather dejectedly. "We can definitely reschedule."

"I'll uh, see you later?" she inquires from a distance away.

He nods, hoping she'll take notice of the action. Part of his mind can't forget the fact that he did overhear her agreeing to dinner with Jai. That same part of his mind makes him wonder if what she's saying right now is simply a lie to let him down gently, or not inform him of this at all. Either way, he can't help but feel as though everything's just a bit shady.

She vanishes in seconds, once again leaving that faint trace of Jo Malone Grapefruit in her wake. It's subtle enough that it drives him crazy; instead of remaining in bed alone, Auggie decides to get up, take a shower, get ready, and head out for the night. No reason to stay at home when nothing's tying him down to the place.

He grabs his cell phone from his nightstand as he's making his way to the bathroom, pressing one of the speed dials and allowing it to ring. A somewhat chipper voice answers on the second ring.

"Stu here, at your service. What can I do for you, Auggie?"

"You guys still at the tavern?" he inquires. By the background noise, he realizes that might have been a stupid question to ask.

"Yes we are. Planning on joining us instead of sitting around at your place and reading a book?"

"I was planning on playing a movie, actually. But having a couple of drinks sounds nice."

"And so he gives in. Need me to pick you up?"

"No, I'm fine," Auggie tells him, turning on the shower water with his free hand. "Just make sure there's a cold one by the time I get there."

"You got it!"

A small cheer erupts from the other line before Stu hangs up the phone. Auggie can't help but laugh at his techies. Placing the phone on the counter, he strips himself of his boxers and steps into the shower.

He's determined, after all, not to let Annie's words get the best of him.

xxx

A bustling sound greets him the moment he steps foot inside the tavern. It's Friday night, so many of the spooks are present, enjoying the beginning of their weekend. For a moment, Auggie wonders where his techies are seated, but he wonders no further when he suddenly hears his name being shouted from a few feet away.

"He made it!" Stu says, walking him over to an empty seat. By his nonchalant attitude, Auggie takes note of the fact that he'll have to consume a bit more beers than planned in order to catch up to him.

"I said I would, didn't I?" Auggie replies, folding his cane and resting it on the table. Almost immediately, a cold beer is set in front of him. He thanks the waitress (at least, he believes it's a waitress this time) and takes a swig. Surprisingly enough, the amber liquid is just what his frantic mind needed to slow down a bit. "How long have you guys been here?"

"A while," Greg, his somewhat third in command replies. "When Stu said we were all getting together, I figured you would have made it here sooner."

Auggie takes another swig of beer. "I had some business to take care of before," he says, answering with nothing more or nothing less.

"You guys want to hear a joke about pizza?" Ruthie asks from somewhere across him.

"It's probably cheesy," Tom replies, after which grunting. Auggie deduces that he's been hit for ruining Ruthie's joke. Either way, the entire table erupts into laugher.

The laughter suddenly dies down once the realization of the situation comes to them. Stu's the first one to speak.

"How's Annie holding up, after the Mercer situation?"

Normally, Auggie would have found it weird that anyone was inquiring about Annie's business, but after she returned from Sri Lanka, the death of Ben Mercer and what exactly happened over there became the be all and end all of the scuttlebutt of the DPD.

"She's better," Auggie replies.

"I'm pretty sure she's more than better," Greg says, and Auggie hears some shuffling about the table.

"I'm assuming we're all looking at something here."

"Sorry, Auggie," Ruthie apologizes. "Annie just walked in here hanging off of Jai Wilcox's arm."

"My money was on you, man," Tom tells him, followed by a grunt. "Damn it, Ruthie, stop hitting me!"

"Don't go on and tell him about it!" Ruthie reprimands.

"Ruthie!" Greg hints, shushing his colleague and friend.

Auggie shakes his head, perplexed as to what is going on at the moment. "Would someone care to explain?"

"It's nothing," Stu admits. "We Tech Ops people were just running a little pool. For fun, you know?"

"Pool for what?"

"To see which one of you would hook up with Annie first," Tom blurts out. This time, Auggie can clearly hear the beating he's getting from Ruthie.

"Guys," Auggie begins, leaning forward, "I don't know if the memo skipped you all, but Annie and I are just friends."

"Then what's with the smirk on your face?" Stu inquires. Auggie shakes his head, foregoing a verbal answer. It wouldn't be smart to outright tell them that he won this little competition between him and Jai.

The smirk falls from his face, however, when he realizes that she's currently out with Jai and blatantly lied to him about it. He just can't seem to take his mind off Annie Walker, no matter how hard he tries.