I hope everyone's going to have a great holiday weekend! I personally have a familial get-together that's pretty much guaranteed to end in booze and some kind of smack down, but that's also just my family for you. I'm actually leaving work early today, so I'm going to wrap this WotD up as quick as humanly possible. ;)

Sort of a tie back to Bang and Blame (ep 1.03) and Little White Lie (Ch. 14), and partly inspired by a comment celticgina made a while back…

$4$

Deciduous: (adj.) falling off or shed at a particular season; stage of growth, etc.

After Auggie found out, his first instinct had been to find her.

It wasn't hard; there weren't that many places to hide from prying eyes in the CIA, and in some ways he knew her better than herself. It only took him two tries to figure out her hiding spot—the first had been his Tech Ops office, and Stu explained that Annie had come in for a split-second, saw Auggie wasn't at his usual post, and then booked it out of there just as fast.

So that really only left one other place to go.

Bea had told him, always up to date on the latest gossip, as they waited in line at the Starbucks kiosk—it was strangely poetic, because Bea had been the one to let it slip that they were dating in the first place.

He left right after, nearly abandoning his coffee if it hadn't been for the cute barista Ashlee calling his name. He thanked her with a warm smile but before she could think to flirt back he was already making a beeline for the DPD.

He didn't need to see her to know that she was sitting on the plain stone bench outside the building, watching the water softly cascade and burble around the modern water fountain that had been installed decades ago. She once confessed to him that she found it peaceful—quiet and calm compared to the usual turmoil that came with her job at working for the CIA.

"Some people might misconstrue your ability to find me in less than five minutes as an obsession," she said lightly. He bet she hadn't even bothered turning around to check that he definitely was the one that walked out of the building—she just knew intuitively, the same way he knew where to find her.

It's a wonder Joan hadn't separated them yet. They were really too close for agent and handler.

"Those people also don't know you like I do," he replied, carefully walking around the bench and Annie's long legs. "I can hear the hurt in your voice."

She exhaled, a tad too shakily for his liking. "I guess that means Bea told you what happened?" she asked quietly, shifting next to him. The toe of one of her heels was tapping against the concrete.

"Yeah, I heard," he told her, inclining his head in a small nod.

"Scott left for Guadalajara," Annie explained needlessly—Bea had already given him the quick and dirty the first time, and he wasn't all that keen to hear it from her point of view, truth be told. "And with me leaving for 'Smithsonian work' every other week, we decided it would be best to make a clean break of it. It was getting too difficult to keep this relationship together."

He nodded as understandingly as he could, willing himself not to appear pleased. Because he wasn't happy the guy was gone, per se—he simply liked his life to follow a certain order, and Scott the Doctor did not fit in that order.

"I kinda expected I would be feeling sadder than this, though."

Auggie blinked in silent surprise for a few seconds and then quickly recovered. He studied what he could of her—her posture was relaxed, she was leaning closer than necessary to him out of comfort, her breath was steady and even. Maybe she was finally ready to hear what he had to say.

"It's not a bad thing that you're not really upset," he spoke slowly, choosing his next words with care. "That's usually how rebounds work."

Annie whipped her head up so fast he could feel the air being displaced and her soft blonde hair brushing his shoulder. "What do you mean, rebound?" She didn't sound particularly angry or hurt, and her voice was at the same subdued volume it had been before. Still, he felt her body tense up infinitesimally next to his.

He sighed. She handled the first statement remarkably well, but that was cake compared to him laying it out for her. "I'm your best friend," he stated the obvious first, using the same line that they usually started most heartbreaking conversations with. "And I don't need to be able to see again to know why you started dating Scott." He was proud of himself that he only stumbled a little on Scott the Doctor's name. He didn't resent him. That much.

"You're going to tell me that you're not dating him because he looks a little like Ben?" he continued, finally going in for the kill. She needed to hear it.

Annie sucked in a breath. She was going to argue with him, but then something else entirely fell out of her mouth—"How would you know?"

Auggie shifted slightly under the weight of her gaze. "It's Company policy to background check anyone that's dating an agent." Then, feeling embarrassed along with the painful need to explain himself to her, he added, "There is a reason why the CIA encourages in-house dating. There's no need to check for dirty laundry when they already know everything they need to know about your boyfriend because he works here."

She leaned forward suddenly, brushing against his arm as she propped up her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. "I can't believe you checked up on my boyfriend," she moaned, her words muffled through her hands.

He flushed, happy she probably wasn't paying attention to see his sudden return to being 13 again. "I didn't ch—it's Company policy," he repeated flatly, determined to ignore the blood rushing to his cheeks.

Annie snorted her disagreement, but after a tense minute lifted up her head a little bit. "Was Scott really a rebound?"

God, I hope so. Auggie winced internally. Shit. He shouldn't be thinking those things—again. "Yes," he said. "Look at it this way: did you really see your relationship with him working out in the long run?"

Annie sighed, nearly soundlessly. "No," she answered in a tired voice.

"Did you have fun though?"

"Yes."

"Did he take your mind off Ben?"

A long pause, and then, "…Yes."

Auggie shrugged and wrapped his arm around her narrow shoulders. "Then he did his job as a rebound."

He knew she was still frowning to herself, even as she mumbled, "I don't think I've ever had a rebound before. I don't think I've ever been in need of one."

He shrugged his broad shoulders once more, not sure how to comment. "They're not much to write home about. They're fun and they don't typically last long, and by the end you realize they don't mean much. But usually when they're over you're ready to start dating someone important seriously."

Annie sat up straighter, leaning more into his side. "I guess you're right," she said slowly. "You know what that means."

He did not, but he stayed silent because he wanted to hear what she had to say—yes, he was important to her, but no, he was her best friend, it would be a terrible idea if they dated—

"I should go ask Jai out now."

Every muscle in Auggie's body tensed in horror, and he had to physically fight off the urge to tackle her before she could leave the bench. In fact, he was so busy being justifiably horrified he almost missed Annie giggling at his expense.

"Sorry," she apologized, obviously not meaning it as she continued to chuckle at his expense. "I couldn't pass up the opportunity. It's funny when you get all twitchy about Jai."

It was absolutely not funny, because for a moment she had him seriously considering murdering the sycophantic bastard, just so he wouldn't have to witness Annie dating him.

She wound her arm around his waist in a one-armed hug and snuggled into his side, instantly making him relax against her like she was really too good at doing. "Come on, bestie," she said, sounding significantly perkier than before. "Let's get work done and then go to Allen's. I'll drive if you buy the first round."

Auggie grinned wide. "Sounds good to me."

$4$

I have been writing in Auggie's point of view a lot lately, and I'm not sure why. And they're all getting to be super-long (seriously, this is like twice as long as most of my WotDs). These WotDs seem to fit better with him I guess.

In case you guys were wondering, celticgina left a comment on Little White Lie about how she thought Scott the Doctor (that's his new name, btw) was too much like Ben Lite. I still think Scott the Doctor is a cuter Ben Lite than Ben, but I will be honest in admitting part of this inspiration came from her.

Additionally, I'll also give credit to one of my favorite long-term sitcoms, The Office, for having a very similar conversation about rebounds between Michael and Jim (only, obviously without the sexual tension and such ;D).