By the looks of the premiere, and Piper & Chris's interviews...This season is going to be the death of me. Oye.

This is a tag of sorts, so spoilers ahead. :) It also sort of almost follows up with my piece To Have An Auggie in Your Life.

Enjoy!

"They are our solid ground, our North Star, the still clear voices in our hearts that will be with us –- always." ❤

She started to tap her fingers idly against the table, their usual table - she wasn't sure if she could even call it that anymore.

(What was usual now, anyway?)

She'd always thrived on chaos. Embraced it, sought it out, even.

In a way, that ever fluid, forward motion – ("motion is progress," Joan said) was, and had always been one of her only constants.

Nothing endures but change...

She had been perfectly okay with that.

Until that change had taken one of her closet friends, one that had saved her life on more than one occasion, right in front of her.

(The ringing still hadn't stopped.)

Until that change had taken her team...her best friend –– her solid ground –– (how long had it been now since they'd actually really spoken?) leaving them to keep secrets from each other in the name of protocol. (She really, really hated protocol.)

Leaving her with this now storm of chaos picking her up off her feet, spinning and spinning and spinning, dizzy with no where to land.

She took a deep breath and then a quick swig of her beer before looking up at the figure now standing over her.

"This seat taken?"

Her lips curved into a smile, despite the roll of her eyes. "Mmm," she hummed, thoughtfully. "Yes, actually. Saving it for someone. A good friend...loyal, dependable, always armed with a witty remark."

"Well he," he finally sat down, his own grin widening, "sounds like a fantastic guy."

She laughed, handing him the beer she'd gotten for him. "He is. You seen him around lately?"

He offered a pale smile at her joke, taking the drink. "Thanks. So-" He stopped and exhaled, the levity gone from the moment already. "How are you doing, Miss Walker?"

Truth be told, she hated that question as much as she hate protocol. After a traumatic event or a loss, it had always sounded so hollow to her – as if anyone could possibly understand how she was feeling.

Except Auggie actually did.

"I'm..." She paused, shrugging lightly. "I'm okay."

He shot a disbelieving look her way.

"I am somewhere near the vicinity of okay," she amended, placing her hand over his for a second. "I promise."

She took his small nod as his usual code for I'll-take-it-for-now-but-we're-still-not-done-with-this, and pressed on. "And you?" she asked. "Whatever Jai got himself into-"

"Annie-"

"I know you can't tell more than you already have," she stopped, running her hands through her hair. "Just...tell me you're being careful."

He smirked, an eyebrow raised.

She definitely missed that teasing smile.

"You're not worried about me, are you, Annie?"

"You?" She punctuated the question with a quick shoulder bump. "Never."

He laughed and downed a gulp of his beer. "Glad to hear it. Now how are things with the new boss shaking out?"

She squinted, considering. "It's...different. She's different – than Joan, I mean."

"Oh?"

"Yeah - more, communicative?" She shrugged. "She let's me take the reigns a little more. Treats me like an equal."

"Ah." He smirked. "I bet you love that."

"I do," she conceded, with a silent laugh. "I don't know, I guess there's a bit of an adjustment period – no scheduled check-ins, no verifying what's 'protocol,' and you know –" She leaned in slightly with small smile – "no little birdie in my ear with a quick exit strategy if I need one."

He smiled back and met her eyes, with scary precision (that kind of made her feel more than a little transparent). "And I am sure you're handling it just fine."

She exhaled, starting to trace circles on the table, looking down. "Like I said –it's different. Feeling like I'm actually out there on my own when I'm in the field."

"Hey–" He reached in front of him to move his glass away before resting his hand on her arm, making her snap her head up. "You are not alone okay? Not as long as I'm around. That number I gave you? Doesn't come with an expiration date."

"If you ever need anything – anything – you call me. Got it?"

Her cheeks warmed and she bit her lip, barely managing a nod in response. She cleared her throat. "Got it."

"Okay then." He shifted back in his chair. "You, uh, you try to remember that the next time you're jogging."

He leveled her with a teasing glance and yeah, of course she should have realized that lying to him would never work.

He knows everything––all. of. the. time.

She chuckled lightly, a shake of her head in amusement over whatever she'd done to deserve such an amazing person in her life. "Yeah. Okay. I think I can do that."

A breath is released at the warm smile she's graced with, one that she hadn't even been aware she was holding.

When she was little, fond of the adrenaline rush of sticking her arms out and whirling around in circles until the world around her was a blur, her sister had taught her to keep her eyes trained on one spot. Just one.

Keep fixed on one spot in front of you and you won't fall down.

"Face it, Walker –– you're stuck with me."

The man in front of her proving that theory.

No matter what changes chaos threw her way, he was still her safe place to land – that ever-fixed constant when the world was a blur.

Smiling, she shifted closer towards him, picking up his empty bottle of beer and giving it a quick shake.

"In that case, we should get another round."

After changes upon changes, we are more or less the same.

The writers seem to be intent on putting our fave pairing through the ringer, with outside circumstances creating all this distance. Damn CIA. But as Chris said, "it makes the heart grow fonder, in a way that it hadn't before." ❤

So, this was me exploring/trying to have them overcome a bit of that initial distance.:)

Reviews are oh-so-lovely, if you're inclined.