Author's Note: Hi! Not too bad of an ending today, for all of you who want to kill me now. The story is nearing its end; I'm thinking maybe four or five more chapters, so please hang in there with me. Glad you've all enjoyed reading it this far!

Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs characters.

Auggie settled for standing clear of the desk, a letter opener he found in the desk drawer becoming his weapon. He would be seen as soon as the door opened fully, but he could lunge at the intruder and have the element of surprise. Ever so slowly, the door creaked open, and Auggie heard lighter sounding footfalls on the tile floor. They did not sound like Marco's or Valmor's, and it made him hesitate. Suddenly, he heard a feminine gasp, and a woman's voice cried out "No, no senor please!"

Auggie blinked; he remembered that voice! "Marisol?" he said after a moment.

"Yes, I am Marisol. What are you doing out of your room?"

Auggie flicked his letter opener carelessly, hoping to create the illusion of a menacing killer. "You can't make me go back. I am getting my partner's medicine, and we're getting out of here."

Marisol asked a quiet, trembling question. "How will you know what the medicine is if you cannot see to read?" she asked.

Auggie frowned. "Perhaps you will tell me," he said, still trying to sound menacing. But he was loosing heart; Marisol was old, and he felt like he was acting like a great big bully. But then Marisol came up to the desk and surprised him.

"That was my intention too," she replied, rooting around in the desk. "Although I am not sure what to look for, perhaps you can help me. I have spoken with Tomas, and he has agreed to drive you to Rio Branco tonight. Once you get to America, tell your bosses and have them bust Valmor."

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Auggie, suspicious of any more help.

"It is for the sake of my own son," she replied after a beat. "Emilio works in the fields with the men now, so you wouldn't have heard him. But we... well, we are just servants. We work here to earn a living. When I began living here, I thought no different of the circumstances. Then, later I learned about Valmor's secret dealings. All of us know, but we are servants. We have no place and no position except among our own. To betray our employer is an evil thing! There is not one big boss who does not line his pockets with money and creates trouble for the government. But I know what it is like when these bosses are taken out. The servants get caught in the middle. The boss shields himself with his laborers, and they gladly take up the guard for loyalty to their master. Then, when he goes down we all go down. No sir! For the sake of my son, and the sake of my friends who are like family, I have decided to make a stand!"

Auggie grinned and put the letter opener down. "You're the informant?" he confirmed.

"Yes, senor, I am the "informant." I first tell our own government of all the trouble we had, hoping that they would send a team to destroy Valmor's kingdom. They did nothing. I tried to call other places, but none came. Finally, I call on America for help, and they send me a traitor and a young agent that didn't even have a chance. What am I to do?"

Auggie nodded in sympathy, then headed back to the desk. "Can you please help me find the medicine I need?" he asked politely. "If Mercer is really to be here within the hour, then I need to give Annie her first dose and have her hidden away."

"Why is that, senor?"

"If Mercer is anything like a normal agent, he won't be coming for a visit until he is sure he can escape safely if everything is a trap. He's expecting to see Annie on her deathbed, but if he does not see her, he will figure it is a trap and will leave. The weapons location will remain unknown for now, but that's something our own government will deal with."

"You are very lucky then that I am so smart. I had Tomas go up to your room and take Annie down to the kitchen. He was supposed to get you too, and I was to bring back the medicines. But even so, we must be quick. If Mercer is to be here soon, than Valmor will soon know of our plot." Marisol began rummaging trough the desk, pulling out various bottles of medicine. "Senor," she said after a moment, "I cannot read these. Many of them are American, and are hard even to recognize let alone pronounce."

Auggie bit his lip in frustration. "Can you spell English?" he asked. "I mean, do you know English lettering?"

"Yes, I do!" Marisol replied. "Let's see, the first one is 'I-b-u-p-r-o-"

"Ibuprofen," Auggie replied. "Just read the orange bottles, if there are any. White ones will be generic medicines."

"How do you know what the colors are in here if you are blind?"

"I used to be able to see, and I grew up with American medicines. Now, the next is..."

"H-y-d-r-o-c-o M-a-l-l-i-n-c-k-r-o."

"That's a type of Vicodin, I think."

"A-v-e-l-o-x"

"Think that's a antibiotic."

"L-e-v-a-q-u-i-n"

"Um, put that one off to the side, I have no idea what that is."

"Okay. Next is P-r-u-s-s-i-a-n B-l-u-e."

"Prussian Blue!" exclaimed Auggie. "So it's a medicine! What is it used for?"

"I do not know," Marisol replied. "Is this the medicine we are looking for?"

Auggie thought back on Annie's claims that only Prussian Blue would help. Annie knew everything that was going on, and even if she wasn't coherent enough to tell him consciously, she told him unconsciously. He trusted her on this one. "Yes, that is the medicine we are looking for. Quick, tell me how much to give her. It should be under the name."

It seemed to take Marisol forever and a day, but she finally said victoriously, "One pill per day! It also says 500mg."

"Great!" Auggie shouted. "Marisol, you are a genius!" He took the pills from her.

"Shh! Do you want to draw the entire household? Come quick, we have barely enough time as it is," Marisol warned. Then, taking hold of Auggie's closest arm, Marisol began to run at a quick pace through the halls. It was extraordinarily hard to keep one's footsteps quiet on the tile, and Auggie understood how Marisol had been so quiet in approaching the door; she had no shoes on. Quickly, they ducked down corridors and made several sharp turns up and down stairs. Auggie felt like he were in a demented roller coaster, and he couldn't wait until the coaster came to a stop. Finally, they chugged through the last door. Marisol stopped, spun around, and shut the door with a loud bang.

Without all the women in the kitchen, it seemed awfully big and cavernous. Every little sound echoed off the walls, and an already tense Auggie flinched all the more every time he heard a sound. Marisol spoke to Tomas from somewhere in the room in hurried, hushed tones. Then, Tomas ran out of the kitchen.

"He has gone to get the truck," Marisol explained. "Hurry, your Annie is over here!" Marisol grabbed Auggie's arm once more, and he felt himself flung in the direction of the door. Marisol shoved him down once he had regained his balance, and Auggie found himself kneeling next to Annie. Quickly, he opened the medicine bottle and poured out one big blue pill. He closed the bottle again and put it in his zippered pocket (which was getting quite full). Not wasting a moment, Auggie grabbed Annie around the shoulders and lifted her up into an almost sitting position. Marisol brought a glass of water and placed it next to Auggie. Auggie opened Annie's mouth and shoved the pill back as far as it could go into her throat. Then, he grabbed the water and poured a small bit of it into her mouth.

Annie was still semi-conscious enough to swallow, and while they waited for the truck, Auggie pumped as much liquid as he could into her. As they waited, Marisol gathered up blankets and anything they might need to make the journey back to Rio Branco. "What's taking Tomas so long?" she fretted. Then, suddenly, all hell broke loose.

"BLAM! BLAM! BlamBlamBlamBlamBlam!" Bullets from a handgun spattered, and the top half of the house sounded like it was in a war zone. Screams came from everywhere, and suddenly half of the household staff flooded the kitchen. Panicked cries in Portuguese filled the air, and occasionally Auggie would hear a "What happened?"

"Quick!" shouted Marisol's voice, the only calm one in the pandemonium. "Get against the wall. It is right behind you!"

Auggie scooted himself along the floor, dragging Annie along with him.

"Lay back. HURRY!"

Auggie laid back, and he felt Marisol shove Annie beside him. Suddenly, Auggie felt the scratchy wool of blankets being stretched out on top of him. When he was fully covered, he felt much more weight be pressed atop him; Marisol was dumping out baskets of clothing on them. Auggie lifted up the blanket a little to get some air in, and listened to the panic of the people. Suddenly, he heard another blast from a pistol, and Valmor entered the kitchen. It was deathly still.

"We have a guest," Valmor sneered, "Called 'Ben Mercer'. He is not to be helped in any way!" A string of Portuguese followed, and here and there someone wailed in reaction to the words. At this point, Auggie was glad he couldn't speak Portuguese. Suddenly, another pair of footsteps entered from the back door. They passed right by Auggie, and Auggie did his very best not to breathe.

"Valmor!" Marco cried. "Mercer got away! He stole one of your trucks; Tomas said he was driving it into the garage for the night when Mercer leaped in front of him. He was forced to come to a stop, and Mercer hijacked the truck. He'll be half on his way to Rio Branco by now, or anywhere else he stashed his transportation."

"Damn it!" Valmor cried. "We had him here! Right here! And somehow, under our very noses, the girl disappears and so does the blind one! How can this have happened?" Suddenly, Valmor's tone became deadly. "One of you must have helped them. Someone here is a traitor!"

The people glanced at each other, terrified. "YOU!" shouted Valmor, and through the crowd, Auggie heard the protesting voice of Tomas be brought up. "Why were you putting the truck back so late?"

"Senor, it is only ten! We had some people way in the far field today!"

"And you did not make them walk, as usual? LIAR! All eyes on me, let me show you how Valmor deals with traitors and liars!"

Suddenly, Auggie heard a pistol shot slice through the air, and a thump followed a few seconds later. "TOMAS!" screamed Marisol, and about half a dozen other people.

"Mercer is gone to us!" cried out Marco. "Once he saw that we did not have Annie like he thought we did, he cleared out."

"We sent him a recording!" cried out Valmor. "It should have been enough; then we could have just killed her. But no, you said he would be more cooperative if he saw her in person!"

"I didn't know he'd walk in carrying a bomb on him!"

"Pretty easy to let him get away then!"

"Stop!" Marco shouted. "Listen, let's get the two agents back! We can at least ransom them back to their own government!"

"Right. However, when we get them we break both their legs so they won't be able to run. You hear this, my servants? If you find either agent among you, break their legs!" Another steady stream of Portuguese followed, and then Valmor went out. Marco stomped through the back door again, and all that was left in the kitchen were sobbing servants.