Wow! The response chapter 9 blew me away. Thank you so much for the reviews - they really kicked the muse into gear! :o)

Here's your reward - a brand new chapter. I hope you like this just as much. I had fun writing it. :o)

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

-Chapter 10-

After spending a couple of hours working on a piece of programming one of his subordinates were struggling with Auggie decided it was time to get some fresh air. He put on his coat and scarf and gathered up his gloves and cane before heading downstairs. In the hall he located his boots in the closet and sat down on the bench by the door to put them on. He heard someone coming down the hallway from the kitchen; from the footfalls he gathered it was his mother. When she spoke a few moments later his suspicions were confirmed.

"Going for that walk?" Carolyn asked while watching Auggie tie his shoelaces.

"Yep, I need some fresh air," Auggie replied as he got to his feet. He wrapped the scarf around his neck and zipped his coat before he grabbed his gloves and cane from the bench and started walking toward the door. "I'll be back soon."

"I'm planning on lunch around 1 o'clock."

"I'll be back in time for that." Auggie opened the door and stepped out on the front steps. After closing the door behind him he put on his gloves and unfurled his cane. He easily walked down the driveway and out to the curb. He paused for a second, before turning right. He walked confidently, but cautiously, down the street toward downtown Glencoe.

Auggie had walked a few of blocks away from his parents' house when a car pulled into a driveway a few feet ahead of him. He heard a car door slam shut and someone approaching him.

"Auggie Anderson? Is that you?" a vaguely familiar male voice said. Auggie stopped and pulled his cane upright, placing both of his hands on the grip. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Um…yeah, it's me. I'm sorry, your voice is familiar, but…"

"Oh, sorry," he said sounding a bit flustered, before he regained his composure. "It's Ethan Matthews. What happened to you Aug? What's with the cane? Are you blind?"

A wide smile spread across Auggie's face, leave it to Ethan to cut to the chase. Ethan had been one of his best friends in High School and they'd been on the wrestling team together. They'd drifted apart when they went to college, Auggie had studied computer science at Northwestern while Ethan had moved to Boston to study law at Harvard. They'd seen each other a few times over the years, but they hadn't kept in touch.

"Ethan! Sorry I didn't recognize your voice. It's been a while since the last time I met you. It's sort of a long story, but yes, I'm blind. I'm not walking around with this for fun," Auggie said, gesturing to his cane.

"Well, how about catching up? Where were you heading?"

"I'd like to catch up," Auggie said as he removed the glove on his right hand and quickly flipped his watch open and checked the time. 12:15 pm, "But Mom's serving lunch at 1 o'clock so I don't really have time right now."

"Well, how long are you in town for? Maybe we could get together after Christmas? I'm here 'till the 29th."

"I'm not going back to DC 'till January 2nd, so I'm sure we can manage to meet up before that." Auggie got his wallet out of his pocket and retrieved a business card. He held it out in Ethan's direction. "Here, my cell phone number is on there, as well as my email. I'd ask for your card, but it wouldn't do me much good. Can you email or text me your contact info?"

"Thanks Auggie. I'll send you my contact info. I don't mean to pry, but when did you lose your sight? I haven't heard anything about it and I thought my mother was caught up on all the gossip."

"Almost six months ago. I was about halfway trough my second tour in Iraq when a bomb went off in front of me. I finished rehab a couple of weeks ago. Now I just gotta survive Christmas with my family before I go back to DC and go back to work."

"I see on you business card that you work in software development. Still a computer geek, huh?"

Auggie laughed. "Once a geek always a geek. It'll be good get back to work and do something productive again. My team is already sending me stuff they're struggling with; I can't wait to go back to full time work. I've had too much time to sit around and think lately. Well, I guess I should head back to Mom and Dad's before Mom sends out a search party. She had her reservations about me going out alone." Auggie finished the sentence with a bit of a sigh.

"Ah, I guess that explains why your Mom's been standing on the corner pretending to not watch us."

"What?" Anger started to rise in Auggie. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"'Fraid not Aug."

Auggie took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The fact that his mother had followed him to keep an eye on him pissed him off.

"Has she realized you've seen her?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Then pretend like you haven't. I'll deal with her when I've proven to her that I'm capable of getting home without getting lost or breaking something. I'd better head back. Send me your contact info and we'll get together before you leave town, okay?"

"Sounds great. Good to see you Aug."

"Good to see you too Ethan," Auggie said with a smile. "And Merry Christmas, say hi to your folks."

"Merry Christmas to you too. Don't be too hard on your Mom, I'm sure she means well."

Auggie sighed and nodded as he turned around. He walked confidently back towards his childhood home and swept his cane with a deliberate cadence. He desperately wanted to prove to his mother that he was not a helpless cripple and that he was still capable of taking a walk around a familiar neighborhood without getting lost or hurt.

Fifteen minutes later Auggie walked up the driveway of his parents' house. He got the key for the front door out of his pocket and let himself into the house. After shrugging out of his coat he hung it in the closet by the door. He also put his scarf on the hanger and put his gloves on one of the pockets. That done he sat on the bench by the door and took off his boots and then he them on the shoe rack on the bottom of the closet before he closed it and retrieved is cane, phone and wallet from where he'd put them the bench and headed for the kitchen. As Auggie entered the room he heard his mother puttering around in the area by the stove.

"Hi Mom, I'm back, still in one piece," he greeted her. "Is there coffee ready?"

"I was just about to start a pot…"

"If you still keep everything where you used to I'll do that and you can keep working on lunch," Auggie said with a smile.

"Okay. Everything is where it always have been."

Auggie placed his cane, wallet and phone on the end of the kitchen table and walked across the room to the counter where the coffee maker was located. He easily found the coffee canister and a few minutes later the coffee was brewing.

"So, what are you making for lunch?" he asked Carolyn as he waited for the coffee to finish brewing.

"Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches."

"Sounds delicious. Anything I can do to help you?"

Auggie sensed his mother's hesitation as soon as he'd asked the question and he fought hard to not lose his temper.

"Well, there's a loaf of bread in the bread keeper and the butter's on the 2nd shelf from the top in the fridge, right side. You can butter the bread for me."

"Sure." Auggie easily found the bread and placed it on the counter. After a bit of fumbling in the fridge he found what felt like a packet of butter. He held it out in his mother's direction and she confirmed it was indeed butter. Auggie was glad she let him do something instead of just asking him to sit and wait to be served. The anger he'd felt when Ethan had told him that she'd followed him was slowly dwindling away. He did understand where his mother was coming from and he realized that she probably just needed time to understand what he was capable of and what he could use a bit of assistance with. Auggie decided to let it go, at least for the time being. He still had a week and a half to show his family what he was capable of and he was determined to prove to them that he was the same person as before the bomb went off in front of him.

Again; please leave a review and let me know what you think :o)