Yes, it's been forever since I posted on this. No, I cannot promise when the next chapter will be up. On top of that, I do not own Covert affairs :( . Oh, and yes, this is really short. Hope you enjoy:)

Her hands sweat as she clamped onto Auggie's and Beth's. Aaron's was on Auggie's other side, babbling away about all the colors and sounds. If Annie had known that she'd worry so much on the car ride, she'd have begged to take a plane. What if bringing the girls was a bad idea? Something could go wrong, they could be hurt. But there'd be no one to leave them with. And if all this goes well, then they have the rest of the day and maybe tomorrow to enjoy themselves on the agency's dime. And somewhere in there, she had to find a moment to sit down and tell the girls that their entire lives were about to be uprooted.

Joan had finally called her out on the house hunting, and as Annie suspected, they had a special procedure for these things. As they walked, a team was putting together a list of options. Did she like this policy? She wasn't sure yet. After all, there were a lot of places in the city, but they were expensive and she and Auggie both lived on a "Smithsonian" salary.

"I think you need to relax." Auggie whispered sharply when her grip tightened on his hand. She made a noise of consent, spotting Joan. "Remember, young couple in love. Right?"

"Right." She shook off her fears and scooted closer to Auggie. Finally she was able to smile. "Look, girls! It's Aunt Joan."

"Well, it's about time." Auggie drawled slowly.

"August." Joan's cool voice was annoyed. "Why, out of all the little brothers in the world, did mother decide to have you?"

Auggie smirked. "Well, she had to make up for having you some how."

"Let's go ride some roller coasters." Annie's voice cheerfully cut through the "sibling rivalry". "How about we start with the Raptor."

"That one has a height limit." Joan shook her head. "Aaron can't go."

"But..." Aaron was about to throw a tantrum, Annie just knew it.

"I'll stay out here with her." Auggie spoke up and Annie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I think I'll skip this one too." Joan looked at the roller coaster suspiciously. "I don't particularly enjoy the ones where your standing."

"Your loss." She shrugged to Joan before kissing Auggie's cheek. "Thanks, Darling."

"Happy to do it." He smiled easily and Beth practically dragged Annie into the line.

It was about twenty minutes later and they were still just standing there. Aaron was continuing to chatter, but Auggie had stopped listening. Instead, the instinct they'd dubbed jokingly as their spidey sense. Interrupting Aaron, he picked her up, ready to run no matter how heavy she was. "Joan, do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything." And it was the truth, over the chatter and commotion of families she couldn't hear anything. But she trusted Auggie's ears better than her own. "What am I supposed to be hearing?"

"That's just it, it's what's supposed to be there that's missing." Auggie cursed silently, remembering that Annie had no back up and was responsible for a small child. If something was to go on... no, he couldn't think of it like that, so he continued. "Stu, you there?"

"Yeah, Auggie. I'm here." Stu's voice crackled on the earwig.

"Why aren't we getting Annie's signal?" Auggie considered just calling her, but she'd have put her phone somewhere to go on the ride.

"I turned her off, man. Chicks scream bloody murder on coasters. Do you have any idea what that'd do to our ears?"

"Turn it back on, Stu, now!" Auggie's voice was shaking and tense.

"Auggie, what's wrong?" Joan's hand touched his shoulder, reminding him of her presence, and even more that he was beginning to scare Aaron.

"Aaron, honey, do you remember when Annie and I told you that we like to pretend we're secret agents?" He felt her body move as she nodded. "Well, Aunt Joan is going to play too, alright?" She nodded again and he finally turned in the direction of Joan's not so subtle sigh. "There's no screams, no roller coasters rushing past. The rides aren't running."

"Auggie." Annie's static voice came through loud and clear after he finished.

"I'm here, Annie." He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "What's going on?"

"One of our suspects was running the ride and he recognized me somehow. I tried to get off, but they took her and threatened to... I got on the ride and he started it. He stopped it before it could get over the hill but the seats are locked." Her voice hitched. "I can't get to her, Auggie, I can't protect Beth."

The slapping of shoes distancing themselves from him was all he needed to know. "Joan and a couple of other agents are on their way. Annie, they'll be there in a moment."

"Where's Aaron?"

Aaron heard this. "Right here, Aunt Annie. Why do you sound scared? Are you playing secret Agent with Uncle Auggie too?"

"Yeah, baby." She made sure to calm her voice as she heard footsteps up the side of the roller coaster. She didn't turn, didn't want to see what she knew was coming. "Aunt Annie's playing a game with the grown ups." She heard what sounded to be the cocking of a gun and squeezed her eyes shut as she prayed simply that Beth would be alright.

Yeah, I'm just that meant. R&R please!