A/N: I'm working on Walk the Line, promise! This just popped into my head, after I finished up the Word from a few days ago and scanned today's and I couldn't let it go. ;) I don't know, I like snappy, snarly Auggie. Call me crazy. I always go for the grumpy-heart-of-gold types. Also, I just like the word Astringent. It's fun to say. Try it! This is madly short, but it was mostly an afterthought, a throwaway scene that I kind of felt was fun. Not quite as fun as the last, cracky chapter, but still! I hope you enjoy. As always, please, please don't hesitate if you think any characterization or anything is off - tell me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs, and this is unbeta'd.

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Astringent

1. Sharply incisive; pungent.

2. Medicine/Medical. Contracting; constrictive; styptic.

3. Harshly biting; caustic: his astringent criticism.

4. Stern or severe; austere.

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"If you would pull your head out of your ass, Jenkins, you'd probably find that you could determine how to go forward on your own! Or do you need me to hold your hand? Because I'm a little busy, here!"

Even a thousand miles away, and holed up in a ratty safehouse somewhere in Turkey, Annie could easily discern Auggie's favorite pissed off tirade voice from the sarcastic banter they'd been indulging in a moment ago under the guise of taking care of the business of checking in. Rolling her eyes skyward, she set the phone between her shoulder and ear, shimmying out of her muddy khakis and into a pair of flannel pants for the evening and waiting out his rant at poor Jenkins. Really, though, the rookie needed to learn to stand on his own. Even she didn't need that kind of hand-holding.

"This is useless to me. Do you know why, Jenkins?" He waited, and she set to brushing her teeth, not really caring if he heard the telltale swishy noises. "One, it's paper. Do you see me reading handwriting? Do you think I'm magical? Two, will you please stop tapping your foot? I'm trying to focus. Go. Take this to Paulette. If he doesn't throw you out on your ass, save it to a disk and bring it to me in the morning." Rinsing with a swish of mouthwash, she winced against the astringent sting, then wiped her mouth on her flannel top's sleeve and wandered back into the main room of the safehouse. It contained a couch, a ratty chair, and a dingy kitchenette. There was no bed, no place to store her clothes, and there wasn't any source of entertainment other than her handler on the other end of the phone. He was amusing enough, though, so she threw herself onto the threadbare green couch and smiled into space.

There was a deep breath on the other end of the line, before Auggie apparently came back to her, sounding cheerful once more. "Sorry, Walker. Would you believe that Jenkins went behind my back to ask whether or not he should follow an order of mine? He almost got Blaire killed, today. Lucky that Blaire is an old hat and told him where he could shove his instructions." Pleasantly, he sniped, and she could pretty much see her friend lean back in his chair, hands flailing about in exasperation. The memory of home brought a smile to her face, never mind the current lack of comfort.

"I believe it." She remarked placidly, used to the caustic tone, even though they couldn't exactly come out and say what was going on; a secured line only went so far. "Down, Cujo. I can't believe you sent me to BFE, Turkey, a week before Easter. Do you know how hard it'll be to convince Dani that I still love the girls if I'm not home before then? Or if I come back looking like tenderized rabbit?" Distraction: It almost always worked with Aug. Get him working on trying to fix something, and you could usually keep him from murdering somebody in cold blood.

For a moment, she was worried that it might not work. Then he sighed, quietly, and when she strained her ears she could hear his chair squeak as he leaned forward. Annie smiled, imagining her tech ops agent with his elbows on his knees, staring thoughtfully into space until he discerned some sort of solution. "Well," Finally, he chuckled, soft and amused - the one she was pretty sure only she got out of him. Honestly, she wasn't sure why he brought out that for her; she could take the bickering. "You could always hitchhike home. I doubt you'd make friends with that one, though." The sarcasm was still there, lurking in the edges of his tone, but she knew he was smiling. So she rolled her eyes, snoring and burrowing a little into the couch. She hadn't eaten on her way in, too concerned about not being tailed, but now that was seeming like a bit of a mistake. Still...moving from the couch was even more of one, as far as she was concerned. It was sometime in the afternoon here, but she'd flown straight through the night at home. Aug might have been bright eyed and bushytailed, but she was definitely feeling the need for sleep.

Only when he murmured an "Annie? You good?", voice growing sharper with concern, did she realize that she'd very nearly drifted off. What was she, a teenager again, falling asleep talking on the phone with her BFF (who, as it turned out, had been buried just like every other BFF in the back yard)? She almost snickered at the thought, propping herself up a little more and heaving a sigh. "M'fine, Aug. Sleepy. You're sounding way too perky. Think they'd be too pissed if I napped until tomorrow morning?" She wondered. Never mind that tomorrow morning was at least twelve hours away, she was pretty sure she could sleep at least that long. A chuckle drifted from the other line, and she let her head fall sideways at the sound, smiling unconsciously. "Go ahead. We're set for 0800 local, at the local cafe. Don't worry, there's only one. You're meeting an old friend of mine. When you're done, Annie, ask him to show you the meteorite crater. He'll know what you're talking about."

The wistful sound to his voice almost broke her heart - not pity, never pity, but she wasn't a monster. For all that she knew that her friend was perfectly competent, capable, and she generally didn't even care that he wasn't able to see...well, she knew that it was hard. Still, he mostly sounded excited, so she took that and ran. "Ooh, meteorite? Nice. Okay. I'll get it done, and please, please make sure I have a flight home before Easter. Danielle will kill me, and you too, if she ever sees you again." One day, she would have to explain that one, but now wasn't that one. She was starting to drift off again, sleepy and content, somewhat sure that this time she was going to go home in one piece. Of course, that confidence was never good, but she could afford it.

Auggie, after all, for all of his - charms - was always going to get her home. "Gotcha. Stay safe, Annie." She grinned, shaking her head in mild amusement; which only ratcheted up at the bellow that sounded before he disconnected the call.

"JENKINS! Are you a complete idiot? Did you fall out of bed and decide that today was the day - the day you decided to drop all pretense of sanity and --"

Yeah, she was glad that she was on August Anderson's good side. The other options usually didn't end well for the recipient. Maybe she ought to have a talk with Jenkins, so the poor guy didn't develop any complexes before he washed out.

Then again, she was just a little too sleepy to formulate complex plans right now. So she hit 'end' and let her head flop back against the tatty back cushion - and was immediately asleep.