Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs.

Prompt #24: Lost - Joan used to think Auggie would never truly be all there. But when Annie showed up, it was like seeing the prodigal son return.

Words: 1,055

Joan Campbell was writing reports at her desk when movement in the empty bullpen caught her eye. This itself was strange; she was well-known for burning the midnight oil, but few of her agents had her drive. Especially the will to go on until almost one in the morning. But then again, this one report was due in the morning and Joan had put it off long enough...

Back to the bullpen. She glanced out and saw Auggie Anderson making his way towards a desk. A specific desk. Annie's desk. Once there, he sat in her chair, pushed it back enough to put his head down in his arms, and seemed to fall asleep.

Auggie Anderson.

Putting her pen down for a moment, Joan leaned back in her chair and regarded one of her best subordinates. Loyal, steadfast, sweet Auggie, always with a smile and a witty/sarcastic greeting for whomever entered his office. Blinded, yes, but by no means handicapped.

He wasn't always so sweet, though. There was once a time where it was safer to squirt acid in a tiger's eye than talk to Auggie. More specifically, when he was newly recruited to the CIA after his accident. He was trying so hard to prove himself capable, trying to overcompensate for his lack of vision by being the best damn tech ever. He was tetchy around people, sarcastic enough to give first-degree burns, and an uncomprimising womanizer. But he was the best at his job, so everybody gradually overlooked his bad personality traits. It was no wonder he quickly rose to be Head of Tech Ops.

Joan worried about Auggie back then. Worried that he'd grow resentful at being put behind a desk and chained there for the rest of his life. Worried that someday, his charming schoolboy ways would land him in a situation his mouth couldn't talk him out of. Worried that he'd live his life alone, without a real friend anywhere. Worried that nobody would ever fully understand and accept him.

Auggie slowly grew to accept his new lot in life, but still Joan worried. He lived in a darkness that very few people would want to tread into. She dared, because he was her best tech and more than once she'd had to kick his butt into gear. But very few others really accepted Auggie without thinking "That blind tech guy" more often than not. And he hated being labeled by his disability, which just made relations even more awkward.

Until, in a last-ditch attempt to make him socialize, Joan ordered him to walk Annie Walker through Langely's ropes. She never expected it to turn out so well (though to her dying day she'd swear she planned the whole thing).

From then on out, she saw a change start to creep over Auggie. His expressions softened. His sarcastic jokes didn't have that caustic bite. Even the blind jokes were spoken more in jest than jeer. Of course, with the good came the bad - he broke ranks more times in that first year than he'd done since he arrived at Langely, and he started pulling crap that would tread insubordination and make him step out of his office and into the real world.

But Annie never left him out there for too long. She stuck to him in a way that Joan instantly recognized as a kindred spirit. There was never any pity when she spoke about Auggie. Protectiveness, yes. Possessiveness, more than somewhat. Outright friendship, most definitely.

She was easily the best thing that could have ever happened to Auggie. For all intents and purposes, she was his beacon, the light that guided him back from the brink and as close to the man he used to be that he could ever hope to become.

Speaking of back from the brink... Joan saw a familiar blonde head hobbling into the DPD. She sat up in surprise when she recognized Annie, just returned from a rough mission in Rio de Janero, having survived yet another series of events that most agents never experience in their tenure at Langely.

Why she was still here at this late hour puzzled Joan. She'd given the agent strict orders to go home after getting checked out by the doctor. So why...?

Her answer lifted his head as Annie approached. The surprise on Annie's face was visible even from Joan's distance. As her office door was open, it wasn't hard for her to hear Annie say, "Auggie, what are you still doing here?"

"Miscommunication. My ride left me stranded," was his glib reply. Joan smiled as Auggie rose and put his hands on his hips. "I thought I made it very clear that you had to be home by seven, young lady."

Annie laughed, then winced. "Don't make me laugh," she chuckled weakly. "It hurts."

All trace of teasing vanished. Auggie took a step forward and his hands unerringly landed on the smaller woman's sides. "Where? What happened?"

"Clotheslined by a steel pipe. No biggie."

"Oh, so cracked ribs aren't considered a "biggie" since my last jaunt in the field?" His hands slipped up her waist, ghosting over the injuries to land on her shoulders. Joan could only imagine the warm brown eyes being trained in the general direction of Annie's face. "You okay?"

Annie nodded. "I'm nodding, Auggie. And yeah, I'm fine." Her smile was soft and fond. "Howsabout I get you home?"

"Yeah. After-mission drinks must be out of the question." Offering his arm, he waited until she looped hers through before starting for the door. "What did they give you for pain?"

"Percocet."

"You didn't take any yet, did you?"

"No, they gave me a localized anesthetic. It'll hold until I get home."

"Good. Your driving terrifies me enough when you're not doped up."

"I'm a great driver!"

"Psh. I'm lucky I'm not blind and crippled."

The banter continued as the pair exited the DPD, leaving Joan to sit in her office with a smile on her face. She definitely preferred this Auggie to the sullen bastard who used to work for her.

And she had Annie to thank for that.

Review please!