Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of Covert Affairs, Annie, Auggie, or Jai.


"Annie, if you're reasonably okay, cough twice and say something about dry air. If not okay, cough once," Auggie said into his mic. He was very relieved a few moments later to hear Annie cough twice and remark about the dry air on the train, and then taking a sip of water.

"Okay, got that. Don't know what's going to happen, but Jai is in a taxi following yours. You're not alone, Annie. We've got your back as best we can."

Auggie hung his head and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He did not like the turn of events happening several thousand miles away. He never liked it when a mission deviated from the protocol, especially with the female operatives, and all he could do was listen and hopefully get help to the agent before she'd gotten too hurt; but now his anxiety was heightened to the max. This was Annie who might be in trouble, the woman he found himself caring about more than any woman he'd ever known before – more than he'd even felt for Natasha, and he'd almost been willing to leave everything behind for her. Losing Natasha had cost him dearly – too dearly; he did not want to lose another woman he loved.

For the next few minutes he listened to Annie and her unwanted companion. Their conversation was calm and mostly civil. At least there were no more yelps of pain. While he was eavesdropping, Auggie was pulling up more information on the British Intelligence officer currently using the moniker of Earl Grey. The deeper he dug into the British Intelligence database, the more confused he became. Nothing he found allayed his apprehension about the man, but neither did it deepen it. There was well-buried evidence that the man was known to go off book, worked ops that superiors didn't know about until they'd been accidently found out. Sounded like someone else he knew.

"Annie, he has been known to go off book – sort of like I did with Liza Hearn. I'm beginning to think he may really be okay, but be careful anyway," Auggie whispered into Annie's ear. Two soft coughs followed acknowledging that she understood his words.

Maybe five minutes later, Auggie heard Mr. Grey ask the taxi driver to pull over in the next block and let him out, and then tell Annie that her destination was just another block up and that he'd see her there in a few minutes, but he was going the rest of the way on foot.

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Annie's anxiety level fell a good five points when she heard Auggie's words comparing himself to this Mr. Grey, and another fifteen when he'd gotten out a block before her destination. She was now back to a normal mission nervousness level – alert and cautious. She wasn't completely comfortable with the mission, but much more so than a few minutes ago. Mr. Grey had gotten out in front of the Hard Rock Café, and her destination was the Athenaeum Hotel in Piccadilly, the next block down.

The taxi turned onto Bond Street and pulled to the curb. The driver got out and retrieved her bag from the boot. He set it on the sidewalk while Annie fished in her black leather tote to find her wallet. She extracted a few pound notes of various denominations and paid her fare with a generous tip for the driver. Placing her billfold back into her bag along with passport and most of the items she'd acquired the last two days in Lisbon and Paris, she pulled her suitcase along behind her as she traversed the few yards to the Main entrance of her luxury hotel.

At the desk she registered for her room and confirmed her reservations for tea at 13:30 and a massage at 17:00. She followed the bellhop up to her room. After he'd settled her suitcase on the stand, and she tipped him, Annie closed the door behind him, let out a sigh and leaned heavily against the door for a few moments. Slowly she moved to her suitcase and retrieved her toiletry bag before heading into the bathroom to freshen up. She slipped out of the shirt and shorts she'd been wearing and into the sundress she'd been instructed to purchase in Paris.

Annie checked her watch and headed down to the Garden Room for tea. Once she entered, the maitre'd asked for her name and she was shown to a table with an older gentleman already seated there.

"Good Afternoon, Ms Anderson," he said as he stood to hold her chair for her. "I'm Herr Rottman. Wolfgang Rottman. Please have a seat."

Annie took her seat, placing the black leather tote on the floor beside her.

"Good Afternoon, Herr Rottman. And to what do I owe the honor of your company?"

A movement in another part of the dining room caught Annie's eye. Earl Grey was being seated a few tables away. She did not make eye contact with him, or in any other way acknowledge his presence. Herr Rottman didn't seem to register the extraneous movements around him; he kept his dark eyes on Annie.

"I like to be seen in the company of lovely women," he said seductively. "And I believe you have some items for me?"

Annie gave him a closer look. The person she was to make the exchange with was supposed to have facial hair – Herr Rottman sported a full beard and mustache; was to be wearing a suit and tie with a pocket square matching her dress – he had on a dark gray suit and a tie and pocket square to match her dress; and he was to use a certain phrase – and he'd said that he liked to be seen in the company of lovely women. He'd passed the assessment.

"Yes, I believe that I may," Annie said cautiously. "Do you have something for me?"

"Yes, I believe that I do," he said with a barely noticeable German accent. He pulled an envelope from the inside pocket of his suit coat and placed it on the table. He then took a bite of the finger sandwich on the plate in front of him.

Annie took one of the delicate pastries from the tiered serving tray, and then took a bite. The raspberry tartlet was wonderful and the Borengajuli Assam tea was top notch, too. Slowly Annie brought the leather tote into her lap. One by one she withdrew the packages she'd acquired from it and placed them on the table.

Wolfgang selected one and opened it. He examined the contents, a diamond bracelet, carefully. A satisfied smile worked its way across his face. He opened another of the jeweler's boxes and looked closely at the ring inside. He seemed highly pleased.

"You have done well, Ms Anderson," he finally replied replacing the ring in the box before setting it to the side of his plate with the bracelet box. He then eased the other packages to his side of the table and placed them in a tote bag almost identical to the one that Annie carried.

Annie reached across the table for the envelope. Once she had it in her hand she started to rise from her seat.

"Not so fast, Ms Anderson," Herr Rottman quickly said. "We are not quite finished with this business. That envelope only contains half of the information. You'll get the rest of it after we finish Tea and go up to your room. There is another part of this transaction, remember."

"Oh, I almost forgot that," Annie replied innocently. She extended Tea out as long as she could without making it obvious that she was stalling. She thought of Auggie on the other end of her earwig having to listen to her. He'd already said that he couldn't do this, yet, as far as she knew, he was still in her ear.

A few minutes later she heard him in her ear reassuring her that he had her back and that Jai was in place if needed.

When it was painfully obvious that the table was needed, and she could delay no longer, Annie rose from her seat and headed off toward her room. Herr Rottman followed behind. Mr. Grey had left the dining room earlier and Annie did not see him in the lobby or anywhere on the way upstairs.

When they arrived at her room, Annie inserted her key card into the slot and opened the door. Wolfgang Rottman held it open while she entered, and then followed her inside. Annie paused for a moment as she entered the main part of the room and surveyed her surroundings. Once again it seemed as if the room had been systematically gone through. A subtle movement in the bath caught her attention briefly.