Disclaimer: The characters are still not mine.

Picking up the Broken Pieces

Annie awakened to the sound of Auggie talking on the phone. She was disoriented for a minute, until she realized she was in his bed. She heard his muffled voice speaking from the other room,

"Joan I know you don't want her in contact with anyone from the agency right now but don't you think you're being a little harsh?" Auggie knew that Annie had screwed up badly, but he could not help feeling that Joan was being unusually hard on her, and he would need to figure out why later. For now though he did not feel that she should be left alone after her ordeal, regardless of how wrong he decisions had been.

Annie couldn't hear Joan's reply but she assumed it was less than conciliatory based on the way Auggie responded.

"Well she's asleep on my bed right now, what exactly do you want me to do, wake her up and kick her to the street?"

Again, there was a pause while Auggie listened to Joan.

"Okay. Look her and I are not on great terms at the moment anyway. But no matter how mad I am at her she is still my best friend. Just let me make sure she gets home safely."

She assumed Joan said yes to his request since he perked up quickly and agreed with whatever she said before hanging up. Annie pulled herself out of bed and grabbed her shoes off the floor, hoping to get out of there without having to say anything more than goodbye to Auggie. Naturally, though, his sharp hearing picked up on her movements towards the door and he spoke from the couch where he had spent the night.

"Annie, wait." Auggie knew he had crossed a line with her last night which caused some serious collateral damage to their friendship. She had been going through hell and he had rubbed her face in it instead of supporting her as a friend should. He still wasn't quite sure why he had over-reacted so much, but he knew that he needed to make it right. So he stood between her and the door, stopping her from leaving.

"Why? Whats the point. You aren't supposed to be talking to me anyway. And I assume you probably don't even want me here." She sounded hurt and broken, and he knew it was because of his actions the night before.

"I owe you an apology Annie." She looked at him in surprise.

"Why? I screwed up, I got people killed, everyone should hate me, I hate myself." He put a steady hand on her shoulder.

"No. I had no right to speak to you the way you did. You made a judgement call that didn't turn out the way you hoped. But the guilt you are feeling right now is more than enough to ensure it never happens again. Believe me, I know. I've been there."

Annie tried to stop herself from tearing up again but her emotions were still all over the place as Auggie continued,

"Look, I'm not allowed to talk to you while you're suspended. Just see it as a slap on the hand from Joan. But I promise I won't let her fire you. So take this time to process the emotions of what happened and try to get some rest okay?" Auggie listened to her trying to calm her breathing and wished there was something he could do to make her feel better. He knew from his own experience though that it would be a long healing process for her. He could only hope she would allow him to walk through it with her in spite of the way he had treated her when she got back.

"People died because of me Aug." Auggie turned his body to face her fully, knowing that whatever he said to her now would form the basis of how she worked through the guilt for a long time to come. He took a deep breath and nodded,

"Yeah. They did. And that's something you are going to have to find a way to live with. And it will take time. I still have nightmares of the day my unit was killed. But it's one of the risks of the job and they all knew that when they signed up. You made a mistake. It doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't make you any less worthy of being loved. It doesn't make you a bad field agent. And it doesn't change the fact that you are my best friend. "

As comforting as his words were, Annie knew deep down that they weren't really true. She had broken the bond of trust they had in their friendship and things would probably never quite be the same. And her career at the CIA was likely to involve being permanently chained to a desk from now on. Assuming that Auggie was able to talk Joan out of firing her. Which she still wasn't sure he would be able to do. But she didn't have the energy to express all that at the moment, she just wanted to get home and hide from the world. So she simply muttered quietly in a subdued tone,

"Thanks." Auggie nodded at her and opened the door to let her go. As she left she looked back at him, trying to memorize everything she could just in case she was never allowed to rejoin the CIA or see him again.

As he closed the door behind him, Auggie made his way to the couch and sank down, with flashbacks of his own worst nightmare hitting him full force in Annie's absence. He remembered the way people had tried to help him after the accident, tried to be there for him, tried to comfort him. He remembered that he had pushed them all away because he had formed the unshakeable belief that anyone who got too close to him would end up getting hurt or killed. He had said some unforgivable things to the people who had been his closest friends, resulting in him becoming completely isolated and depressed for a long time. Annie was the first person he had allowed to truly get close to him since the accident, but even with her, he had only opened up to a certain point. He could never allow he to truly see how weak and vulnerable he often felt.

His phone began to buzz and announce that there was a call coming through from an "unknown number," and got up to answer it only to be met by Parker's voice.

"Auggie?" He nearly fell over from the surprise of hearing from her.

" Parker…hey. Where are you calling from?"

"I'm still outta the country but, it's been harder than I expected, adjusting. I really miss you. I know I probably shouldn't be calling you I know we broke up and you're probably busy and now I just feel embarrassed for interrupting your day. I'm sorry." Auggie settled back down onto the couch and laughed inwardly at her nervousness. It was good to hear from her. Just hearing her voice somehow made all the other things he was concerned about seem less significant and draining.

"No, Parker. Wait. I know we're not together anymore but I will still always care about you and I'm here for you. What's been going on?"

"I guess I'm homesick. Part of me thought that by joining the Peace Corps I would be able to get a fresh start, get away from all the memories of Billy that are everywhere back home. But instead I just feel alone and I have way too much time to think. I'm sort of falling apart a little." His heart went out to her. Somehow the emotional connection that had been between them had not been torn by the break up and part of him just wanted to get on the next plane to Eritrea to see her.

"What can I do to help?"

"Is it too much to ask that we could be friends and stay in touch. It hurts not being able to talk to you." Part of him wanted to say no, tell her that she broke his heart and it was her own choice to leave him. He wanted to berate her for not giving him the option of trying to make their relationship work long distance. But the larger part of him cared too deeply for her to be able to turn her away, no matter what the circumstances. He wanted to stay close to her in whatever way she would allow.

"I'll always be here if you need me Parker." And he meant it. Parker was his escape from the harsh realities of the lifestyle she had chosen. Her optimism about her ability to truly make the world a better place inspired him to keep having faith in people, even when they disappointed him as Annie had over the past couple of days. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone. As they talked he felt the tension of the week leave his body and he relaxed into the couch, grinning like a schoolboy.

A/N Yes. I went there, Auggie is still not over Parker. How might this throw a wrench in the works? We shall see *mischievous giggle.*