DISCLAIMER: I don't own Covert Affairs.

A/N: Thank you for being so supportive, I'm so glad to hear that some of you really want me to continue with this story! It means a lot. Please, continue commenting, it helps speeding the writing along. I also promised you some action, so here goes!

Chapter 26
The Unsanctioned Op - Pt. 2

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he reflected on the last couple of days, things had changed so quickly. He tried to focus his attention back to the screen and the task at hand, but it proved more difficult than it should. Due to the unforeseen incident concerning Lindsay he hadn't been very focused on work lately, which meant that he was lagging behind. This was why he was sitting at his desk on an early Saturday morning. It was calmer than usual, with not that many around, not that the DPD ever was deserted or particularly calm. He put on his earphones again and continued with his work, he had a deadline on Monday so he knew that he'd practically live at the DPD throughout the weekend.

As the minutes rolled by he realized that it felt weird to be at work and turn his attention to ordinary things - not that his work or tasks were ordinary - but knowing that Lindsay was somewhere out there in god knows what state, he couldn't help but worry even though he didn't want to admit exactly how emotionally attached he'd become over the last couple of days. His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a faint noise; someone had opened the sliding doors. He pulled off the earphones and turned his chair towards the entrance, the perfume was unmistakable.

"Hi Joan, any news?" he queried.

"I'm afraid not Auggie, but I need you to help me out with another thing." He picked up on the authority in her voice and he knew that whatever it was, it was something important.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Douglas Barnes finally talked," she said.

He arched his eyebrows. Douglas Barnes was the man that had kidnapped Annie on her first mission after they'd kissed. He clenched his jaw, where they finally going to get to Fournier, the arms dealer that Annie had tried to get intel on?

"It seems as if he thinks that Fournier's hiding out in Prague, we've been in contact with Bezpečnostní informační služba (BIS) and there's chatter that he is indeed there. I'm sending agent Kelting back out into the field, seeing as Annie can't help us at the moment and he's read in and he left earlier this morning from Dulles. I need you to be his handler and help him out on this mission, whatever he needs. It shouldn't be too dramatic. Here," He could hear her put a file down at his desk.

He quickly scanned the first page with his index finger, he nodded.

"Sure, I'm going to be here throughout the weekend anyway, so sounds good." He said unenthusiastically.

"Thank you Auggie, I know it's difficult to transition back into work, but I really need you on this, we have to pursue it."

"I know," he replied. He heard Joan turn her heel but she stopped in the doorway.

"Have you heard anything from Annie by the way?" she asked.

"Um, no actually I haven't..." he said, his voice trailing off at the end. The question had caught him off guard and he hoped that Joan wouldn't be suspicious of his reaction. He could hear that she was still there, but she didn't say anything, it made him a little uncomfortable.

"I'm here if you wanna talk," she said breaking the silence.

"Thanks," he said. He'd picked up the file again and pretended to be engrossed in it. When he was sure that Joan was gone, he put the file back down and leaned back into his chair. He hadn't heard anything from Annie in quite a while and it wasn't like her to stay out of touch like this. But then this situation was pretty unique, they'd never fought like this before. He thought about calling her again, but decided against it, he had a lot to do at the moment. He'd try again tonight instead he promised himself.

Bezpečnostní informační služba (BIS) was the national intelligence agency of the Czech Republic, he'd been in contact with them once before, when he'd just been transferred to the DPD and that mission had ended well, he just hoped that this one would too. I could use a win right about now, he thought to himself. He picked up the file and started reading it properly.

Annie's heart was beating rapidly; she was walking towards Bashir's house. It was 6.30 P.M. and dinner was about to be served. She'd spent the day with Eyal and thanks to him she'd momentarily forgotten the harsh reality that she now had to face. They'd enjoyed each other's company and Eyal had told her all about Greece; his trips to the small islands, the boat and countless other stories. She'd been mesmerized and frankly a little surprised, she'd never seen Eyal so at ease and happy, he must have really enjoyed his time away from Mossad.

The scene outside his hotel flashed before her eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked carefully as he guided her towards the cab that he'd called.

"I don't know Eyal," she answered truthfully.

"It will be okay Neshama and you'll get your answers, I know you will." He said it all while looking into her eyes and it was as if though his words actually penetrated her soul. Before she knew it she was embracing him and he let her. Hearing the rhythmic sound of his heartbeats calmed her. And just as she was about to enter the cab, he'd carefully placed a kiss on her cheek.

Had things not been so stressful she'd been confused about the kiss she thought, but considering her situation; analyzing Eyal's intentions weren't her top priority. She heard voices coming from inside the house as she carefully opened the door.

"Annie!" Bashir called out, excitement in his voice. He was sitting at the kitchen table and even though Annie couldn't see the face of the man sitting with his back towards her, she knew that it was Ghannouchi, the man that had been out in the backyard with Bashir.

"Hi," she replied and offered a smile as she entered the kitchen area. She didn't see Malik or Nabila around but wasn't all that surprised, this was a business dinner. As she took in the giant spread on the kitchen table, all the different dishes her heart sank. She got the feeling this was intended as a "last meal" kind of thing, but she kept her smile plastered so as to not make them suspicious.

"You are just in time. Dig in!" Bashir said happily as he motioned to all the food. Ghannouchi stared at her with the same intensity that he had the first time. Since he didn't bother with pleasantries, she didn't either.

Throughout the dinner Bashir re-told her the plan and what was expected of her and she just nodded whenever he seemed to wait for her reaction, but she wasn't really listening. Instead she thought about Eyal, he should be quite close right about now, but it wasn't nearly close enough, she thought.

30 minutes later Bashir rose from his chair and said something to Ghannouchi, but whatever it was Annie didn't catch it. Ghannouchi seemed to agree, because he nodded and slowly rose from his chair and made his way out towards the hallway and a few seconds later he was gone. She gazed at Bashir but he showed no signs of explaining Ghannouchi's departure to her, instead he said.

"Go get ready; we will leave in a few minutes."

As she made her way towards her room to get changed she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. She made sure to close the door to her room carefully behind her before she reached into her pocket and pulled out the phone. It was a text message from Eyal letting her know that he was in position. Not exactly sure why, his message seemed to triggered the spy in her and immediately she kicked herself into action. She quickly changed into the comfortable clothes that Bashir had provided her with, she rummaged through her bag and found her passport which she expertly concealed with duct tape to the inside of her boot. Before leaving the room she made sure that she hadn't left anything behind that might be of value, seeing as there wasn't she took a deep breath, she was ready.

"11.45 A.M." The watch announced. He'd only had a small yoghurt this morning and his stomach was growling. He decided that since it was almost noon it was a respectable hour to disappear for lunch, he reached for the small laser cane and rose from his chair. But just as he was about to head out the phone on his desk rang. He sighed, just his luck. He settled back down behind the desk, found the earpiece and answered.

"Anderson." The line was quiet, he thought that maybe it was Kelting calling with some sort of update, but realized that agent Kelting was somewhere over the ocean by now and wouldn't call yet in a few hours. "Hello?" he tried and felt irritation rise in his body, he was just about to hang up when he thought he heard something. After a few seconds he realized that it was sobs.

"Au- gh- ie," the female voice sobbed. It was Lindsay and as soon as he realized that the irritation was gone and his handler-mode set in.

"Lindsay, are you okay?" He asked gently but with a firm voice, trying to reach out to her.

"I- I- do-ho-n't h-kno-w..." she sobbed. He heard her clear her throat and when she continued she sounded more gathered. "I- I need your help Auggie."

He took a deep breath; he knew that he should follow protocol on this and alert both Joan and the police.

"Where are you, are you hurt?" He tried as he wanted to gauge the situation.

"Please...can you meet me?" She asked pleadingly.

He frowned; she hadn't denied being hurt and a lot of scenarios played before his eyes. He wondered if she was alone and where she was.

"Yeah, okay." He heard himself answer. She gave him an address and then the line went dead. Oh my god, what am I doing? He thought as he gathered his things and grabbed his coat and cane before heading out. On his way down he alerted the car service to come and pick him up by the entrance.

The air was chill and the temperature had dropped over the last few days, it must be about 49°F [9,4°C] he reasoned. He then heard the familiar sound of a car pulling up; he made his way over to the black Sedan.

"Hi Auggie," Clive, one of his regular drivers, said as he settled down in the back seat.

"Hi Clive," he replied.

"Where are you heading?" he asked.

"Shepard Street Northwest," he said and gave Clive a post-it with the full address on it.

Crestwood, he thought as the car pulled out. If he recalled correctly it was a family neighborhood, he wondered if Lindsay lived there with Paul or if it was her parents' house. If the house belonged to her and Paul, what was he going to find when he arrived? He sighed. He knew that what he was about to do was incredibly stupid, he shouldn't be doing Lindsay favors and frankly he wasn't sure if this could be considered a favor. He was keeping information that might be crucial from Joan and the Police, he remembered what Joan had told him at the hospital; that he wasn't to get involved but let the Police handle it. He scoffed.

When the car came to a halt he told Clive that he'd call if he needed to be picked up and that he shouldn't wait around. As he exited he took in the sounds of children and dogs barking; suburban bliss. As he heard the car drive off, he realized that he was a little stranded seeing as he couldn't tell the numbers on the houses and he wasn't sure which house he was supposed to walk up to. But suddenly he picked up a scent that was familiar.

"Lindsay?" he asked.

"Thanks for coming," she answered and he could tell that she was just a few inches from him now.

"No problem," he said trying to sound convincing. "But I'm not the best man to ask for help, you do know that I'm blind, don't you?" he quipped hoping to brighten the mood a little and to distract himself from the growing sensation that he was doing something he shouldn't. He felt her hand around his upper right arm and she guided him silently towards one of the houses.

"Are you okay?" he asked once they were stationed in what he assumed to be a living room.

"Yes..." she said, but he could detect hesitation in her voice.

"Lindsay, what happened?" He asked, worry seeping through his words.

"I wanted to kill him." She confessed bluntly, he was a little surprised but inched closer to her in order to show that he was there for her and not freaked out about what she'd just told him. After all he'd thought the same thing when he'd found out the truth about Paul.

"It's okay," he said in a hush tone.

"Here, I will help you." Bashir reached over to help her attach the microphone to the collar on her jacket. "It's just a precaution so that I can guide you," he said when he was done.

Annie had to keep a straight face and did the best she could, but inside her emotions were raging and she wasn't sure how this would play out. She prayed that everything was going well for Eyal and that he'd soon be there.

"The building should be empty, but sometimes they have guards on patrol because they still store things here." Bashir continued on, she just nodded in his direction, trying to keep her head in the game. "Are you ready," he added?

"Yes," she replied.

He did a last check to see that everything was working.

"See, now I can monitor you." He said sounding almost proud of himself as he nodded towards the screen in front of him.

She took a deep breath before she stepped outside the van, it was pitch black outside but she walked purposefully towards the building. Knowing that she was watched, she couldn't let it show that she was hesitant about doing this; after all she'd been the one to initiate this whole trip. But as she got closer to the building she wondered if it was worth it. She'd played Henry Wilcox, tricked him into thinking that she was cooperating with him, but maybe he'd been a step ahead of her all this time? As she reached the door she picked up a key that Bashir had given her, the door unlocked easily.

The halls were dark but she turned on the small flashlight that Bashir had equipped her with. No bomb yet, she thought. She recalled the instructions she'd gotten earlier, she was to walk down this corridor until it split and there she was supposed to take a left. Involuntarily the image of Auggie appeared in her mind, had this been a normal Op she'd be talking to him. She realized that Auggie was a huge part of her missions and the one person that could make her feel safe in situations like these, which wasn't the case at the moment. Bashir remained quiet and she wondered if he was still there, monitoring her. She wished that she could pick up her cell phone to check if Eyal had sent her a message. She took the left turn as instructed and continued, this corridor looked identical to the one she'd just walked through but at the end of this one she was to find a staircase and walk up to the second floor.

A rustling sound practically made her jump and she cursed under her breath, usually she was more leveled during missions. She quickly scanned the corridor with her flashlight raised, but didn't see anyone. As far as Bashir knew the flashlight was her only weapon. He'd told her that if she was to meet someone he'd help her talk her out of the situation. He'd promised her that the worst thing a guard would do to her would be throw her out on the street, but if she just said the things he'd tell her to say and drop some names, it wouldn't be all that dramatic. Upon being told this she'd even had the courage to ask him why he couldn't just walk into the building and get the file, but he'd told her that his ex-Mukhabarat status would be a problem in a place like this and the way he'd said it, she'd almost believed him. She found herself feeling relieved that she was armed, which was new to her; normally she didn't care for weapons all that much, they were just a safety precaution.

She reached the second floor and saw the dark, wooden door that Bashir had talked about, she was supposed to head into the room and there she'd find a gray steel cabinet which hosted all the files. She carefully opened the door; the room was dark and dusty. The steel cabinet was at the end of the room and she hurried over, unsure what she'd find in there; considering that she knew the file wasn't going to be. She fished out the second key that Bashir had given her and stuck it in the lock.

She quickly scanned the first drawer, there were indeed a lot of files in there but Bashir had told her that she'd find hers in the second drawer. She quickly closed the first one and opened the second, it was empty. She felt a chill down her spine as she realized that this was the moment when Bashir expected her to find out that she'd been tricked. She quickly spun around and there he was. Bashir was standing in front of her, covering the exit with a gun aimed at her head.

A/N: So, what did you think? What's going to happen to Annie, will Eyal come to her rescue? And what's Auggie going to do with Lindsay? How far is he going to go for her sake? Please, review! It means the world to me.