Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs or episide 1x04 "No Quarter."

Prompt #10: Cujo - "Here, booze," he said, handing her a beer. "Woof."

Words: 1,022

The deepest groan in existance emanated from next to Auggie, like a wounded buffalo had dropped from exhaustion. "Well, that was not a happy sound," he remarked.

"My day sucked," was Annie's reply. "Epic suckage."

"Sorry to hear that," he said. "Austria normally isn't that bad."

"I think the universe is out to get me." Another low groan escaped her lips. "How else do you explain all the messed-up stuff that happens whenever I go into the field?"

Auggie shrugged. "Murphy's Law."

She chuckled mirthlessly. "The law that states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

"And at the worst possible moment," Auggie added.

"This is not cheering me up, Auggie."

His sightless brown eyes narrowed slightly. "Okay, there's something else up with you. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Please. CIA-trained and you still can't lie to me?"

Her voice took on a peeved edge. "Just drop it Auggie, okay? Leave me alone."

Now he knew something was definitely wrong. Annie sometimes went out of her way to not snap at him. But knowing her as well as he did, Auggie didn't pry. He just took a sip of his beer and waited. The night was young, and she was his ride home. Sooner or later, the truth would come out.

To his surprise, she didn't crack. The rest of the evening passed with relative speed, and she dropped him off at his place around midnight. Auggie burned to ask her what the deal was, but his sense of privacy and their friendship prevented him from asking.

Her, anyway. Nothing in the friendship code said anything about asking someone else.

"Auggie, this is a nice surprise!"

He smiled easily. "Hey Danielle. Am I bothering you?"

"No, no! Please come in!"

"I won't stay long." Auggie strolled into the kitchen, from the smell of it, and paid special attention to where he was stepping. Danielle guided him to the table and set about brewing fresh coffee. "Just stopped in to ask you something."

"It's about Annie, right?"

Another smooth grin. "You're right about that. She's been a bit off for the last few days. I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

Danielle's soft chuckle almost made him shiver and sniff for grapefruit, it was so similar to Annie's. "Yeah, she's going through a rough patch."

"Regarding?"

The housewife sighed. "It's kind of may fault. I tried to set her up with a guy before she left for her trip, but the date bombed."

Auggie frowned. "That doesn't sound as bad as you're making it out to be. What aren't you saying?"

"He stood her up, Auggie. She was waiting for almost three hours in the restaurant and he never showed." Danielle sounded so apologetic and guilty. "And then, he tried to call back and explain, but his idiot ass made the mistake of calling from the bar across the street where he was on a date with another woman. Annie saw him leave with the other woman - Auggie, calm down."

"I am calm," he lied professionally, knowing that he showed no anger on his face.

A finger tapped the back of his hand. "Your death grip on your coffee cup says different. Your knuckles are bone white." Immediately he let go, worried that he'd break the cup. "Auggie, I get it. You care about my sister."

"Course I do. She's my best friend," Auggie replied in a voice that conveyed that he believed his words.

"I'm a mom, Auggie, meaning my Bullshit Meter works just fine. You care about my sister more than you're letting on, but that's beside the point," she said before he could say anything else. "My point is, don't push her please? I sort of promised her that I wouldn't tell you."

What? "Why?"

"Just don't breathe a word to Annie. Please."

Annie knew when she walked into Auggie's office on Monday that he'd talked to Danielle. He sucked at hiding that kind of thing from her, and Danielle admitted that she'd told the handsome blind handler the bare details.

What did surprise her was the growl that rumbled through his gritted teeth as he said, "Forget about him, Annie. He's not worth the brain fart."

The only thing that she could think of was Enter Auggie, my protective St. Bernard. What came out of her mouth was, "Whoa, down, Cujo."

"Please. I can make Cujo look like a puppy tripping over its own paws," Auggie stated.

"Auggie, he stood me up and lied to me. It's not like he stole my virginity under false pretenses. You don't need to defend my honor."

"I'm not mad about that. Not just that," he amended. "I'm mad because you didn't trust me enough to tell me what was bothering you. I had to ask Danielle."

The retort on her tongue died. That's what really rankled him, she realized. Not that the guy had snubbed her, but that she hadn't trusted Auggie enough to tell him. Which was ridiculous. She literally trusted Auggie with her life, time and time again, and yet she wouldn't tell him the reason why she was down in the dumps. I have to get my priorities straight.

"Auggie," she finally said, catching his attention before she moved closer. Leaning down, she pressed a light kiss to his cheek. "You're very protective, you know that?"

His regular smile uncurled on his lips. "Why Miss Walker, I do believe that's been mentioned once or twice."

And just like that, they were okay again.

A throwaway comment from 1x04 made me think of this. That, and a buddy of mine is a Stephen King fan.

Review please!