Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs...I could only BE so fortunate as to create such fabulous characters!

Author's Note: I really appreciate all of the support! Glad you're enjoying the ride! I like to use a couple of techniques when I write my stories...when you see large patches all in italics – it means that the characters are flashing back or it's a memory. If you see italics followed by non-italics it means that we're hearing someone over a phone or mic. Without further ado...Chapter 3. The first italics bit borrows from the "Pilot" - so I want to give credit where credit is due.

Song Choice: The Script – Breakeven (Falling to Pieces)

Chapter 3: Breakeven

Nearly 4 hours later...or 20 hours ago...

As children we are taught that the monsters that come in our sleep are nothing more than a figment of our growing imaginations. As we grow older we learn that the images, the feelings, and even the actions mirror our subconscious in ways that, when awake, we never imagined possible. The heart pounding terror, the cold sweat, the helplessness, the anger, the warmth, the passion, the heat, the emptiness are all the brain's subtle way of getting you to recognize that all is not what it seems to be in the real world and we have to snap out of it. We learn to cope and to sometimes even control the dreams. We feel liberated. Powerful. Masters of our own destiny. Then we grow even older and the horrors of life seep into our unconscious mind causing us to relive painful moments over and over and over again in response to a trauma whether perceived or recognized. Serving your country during a time of war only amplifies the subconscious' need to work through emotions and when you work for the world's most secretive intelligence gathering organization in the world that translates to some things best left forgotten. Over time the nightmares recede, compartmentalized or are dealt with in their own right. Sixteen hours was not nearly enough time for Auggie Anderson to maneuver past the emotional pitfalls of losing one Annie Walker.

Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport is located 20 miles from downtown Montreal, a city that Auggie once enjoyed visiting frequently before losing his sight in Tikrit over four years ago. The city was ripe with French history without the haughtiness of being French. It was Old World with a cosmopolitan atmosphere. When the airport was remodeled the concept was 'fluidity' which, for him, meant wide corridors, comfortable chairs, and most importantly a direct flight into Qatar and on to Kuala Lampur. He'd only been in the modern building once previously and he recalled the enormous windows allowing for natural light to seep in. His arrival from the VIA Station in Dorval had left him exhausted, unable to clear his mind. The tension in his neck left him feeling sluggish and his body felt as though it had gone six rounds with one of his Special Forces Instructors at Ft. Bragg. He was bone weary, but determined. The flight to Qatar would give him enough time to rest before moving on to Kuala Lampur in his quest to find Ben Mercer. Of course that presumed that he could stop the echo in his mind of Annie's last words to him. Every time he put himself back in that place he felt his throat clench, his palms sweat, and his heart begin to race. He was glad that he'd had the foresight years ago not to decommission one of his aliases and upon leaving New York traveled under the name Michael Monroe, Canadian businessman attached to Rio Tino mining. It was only a matter of time before anyone realized what he was doing – he wasn't an idiot. He fully expected Joan to send someone after him, but hopefully by the time they'd discovered his little 'clerical error' he would be well on his way to Qatar.

He made his way through the terminal with minimal assistance, insisting to the gate agent that he was perfectly capable of managing an airport. He was tired of pretending he was a helpless, hapless, nerd who needed to depend upon the kindness of strangers to help him through life. He'd long since adapted to losing his sight and while he still had his moments of anger with respect to the incident, he had long accepted that he had to embrace it and move forward. Of course, Auggie Anderson was strong enough of a person to recognize when he was in need of help. Unfortunately, that moment occurred not long after clearing security when no braille signage could be discovered on the walls. Nearly three thousand steps later, he was alone with his thoughts at his gate after being unceremoniously deposited by a rather put out airport employee. If he ever had any intention of returning he would have complained, but then again he knew that this particular mission would have its consequences. He leaned back in the faux leather seat, closing his eyes as he allowed the last sixteen hours to breech his carefully constructed walls. By now Danielle would have been notified. He wondered what story she would have been told...car accident? Mugging? Depending on the damage to her body... Auggie felt the all too familiar sting in his eyes and quickly put a stop to that particular line of thought. He had to focus on the present. Bad intel made for bad ops. He was going to find Ben Mercer even if it meant flying around the globe. He wondered what it was about her that made him so blood thirsty and, more importantly, when it was that he first knew that she was so incredibly special.

"Annie Walker?" he asked quizzically as he ran his laser can over her face.

She was startled momentarily but he, naturally, couldn't see her face, "Yes."

"Auggie Anderson. Tech Ops. And your friendly neighborhood cruise director," he smiled brightly as he extended his hand, "Walk with me."

She took it firmly, flashing what he could only assume was her million watt smile and followed him through one of the numerous corridors of the CIA. He was somewhat surprised that she hadn't alluded to his disability. She responded to him as he imagined she would respond to anyone. His natural tendency to erect walls wouldn't have him believing that this particular woman would be any different than anyone else, so he did as he always did.

"Blind guy leading you around the CIA. Insert ironic joke here," he remarked flippantly, a slight edge to his tone that he would never realize she'd caught as she matched him step for step.

"Jo Malone Grapefruit?" he asked as she remained quiet.

"Am I wearing too much perfume?" she asked quickly, her tone concerned that she might have been overzealous this morning.

"No," he told her as he stopped walking, turning his head slightly, "No, it's very subtle. A lot of ladies around here lay it on so thick it's like they're chumming for hammerheads."

When he felt the sly hand of his co-worker run across his arm, he immediately plastered a sweet smile on his face, "Hey Bea!"

He felt Annie smile next to him, the Anderson charm working its magic. Of course, it could have simply been the fact that Annie was different. Her aura, if you believed in such things, put you at ease. He found himself in unfamiliar territory with someone he'd just met not five minutes prior. Annie Walker, unbeknownst to her, had started to worm her way behind his carefully constructed defenses.

The warmth he felt while surrounded by the memory of Annie was quickly replaced by the feeling of being doused with a bucket of ice water as a familiar, nasal voice met his highly tuned ears. Sitting up straighter, Auggie pulled his cane from his pocket and began to slowly reconstruct it, careful not to create too much noise as to distract him from his purpose. He needed confirmation. It would do him know good to be found now. If that voice belonged to he thought it belonged to then he seriously owed Stu a beer when, and if, he ever made it back to the beltway. Rising to his full height he allowed his head to turn into the direction of the voice and then he simply focused and listened.

"Just arrived at the airport in Montreal. Passport hit says he's hopping a flight to Kuala Lampur via Doha," the voice commented as it moved from Auggie's left only to pause directly in front of his gate.

Auggie groaned and closed his eyes. Jai Wilcox. It was curious that Joan had chosen to send that smug bastard into the field to retrieve him. He felt his blood begin to boil again as he recalled the reason the Agent was reassigned to DPD from the 7th floor to begin with – to keep tabs on Annie and to use her to draw out Ben Mercer. When he'd learned of Jai's dubious assignment he'd wanted nothing more than to break the pompous ass' nose, but it was Annie who reminded him that we all played a role in the machine that was the CIA. Her capacity to forgive astounded him and reminded him how important it was to remain grounded. She was his anchor.

"Negative. Heading to the gate area now. I'll keep you posted," Jai Wilcox's voice cut through his moment of anger, once again bringing him back to reality.

Auggie counted to ten as the footsteps began to fade to his left, moving in the direction of another gate. It was then he realized that his friendly guide had undoubtedly deposited him at the wrong gate. So much for being different from the French. He slowly swung his cane to determine how much room he had and then quietly asked the first person he came upon to guide him towards the next gate. Taking the arm of the stranger, a soft spoken woman traveling alone, Auggie folded his cane and simply allowed himself to be taken. They conversed softly. He explained that the man they were following was an old friend and he wanted to surprise him. She marveled at his ability to be able to pick him out of a crowd considering his disability. She was saccharine sweet. It almost made him want to throw up considering how overt she was being with her flirtation. Rule #1: Never pick up a random woman at the airport. He was jarred suddenly as she stopped, her body tensing as he felt her turn towards him.

"What is it?" Auggie asked concerned, his hand covering hers lightly as he angled his body so he would be standing in front of her.

She blushed at the touch of his hand over hers, "Your friend just walked through a secured area. When the door opened it looked like a long hallway?"

Auggie nodded slowly, his mind trying to work out why Jai would leave the passenger area, "He actually works for ICE. He must have been heading to an office."

"Oh! Well, it's about 30 meters ahead," she told him with a bright smile that was obviously lost on him, "You have a direct path with no obstacles."

Auggie nodded to her, patted her on the hand, and then made his way toward the door as he listened for her tiny footsteps to recede into the background. Airport traffic in the terminal was light and while his destination was not an overly popular route, it was a hub to other parts of the globe; he was several hours early. He caught snippets of conversation in French, English, and Arabic. He pulled up short of his destination when he heard the door open again, heavier footfalls brushing past him but oblivious of his presence. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, a sure sign that his instincts were telling him something was not quite right with this situation. He would be damned if anyone got to Jai Wilcox before him.

Jai slipped his cell phone back into his pocket and ran a hand through his thick, black hair. His conversation with Stu had left him restless and he couldn't help the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he was missing something. Auggie had chosen this route carefully based on intel that was three days old according to Stu. In their line of work unless the intel is corroborated once it is older than a few hours it's generally considered dead. There was something that he was missing. Mercer was a highly trained assassin and it really served no purpose to set up Annie Walker in the middle of the Afghan desert. Something didn't smell right and the sudden thought that this was an elaborate Agency set up crossed his mind. It wouldn't be the first time the higher ups viewed field officers as expendable. So engrossed in his own thoughts, Jai failed to remember the cardinal rule of being a field operative. Always be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are. The hand on his shoulder spun him around too quickly for a reaction and the hard crack of a right hook to his jaw slammed him backward into the wall.

Jai spit the blood that seeped from the corner of his mouth onto the crisp, white floor and held his guard in front of his face in expectation of the next barrage of blows," Mercer!"

Ben Mercer was a force to be reckoned with under normal circumstances and as he paced around his former handler like a caged panther, his blue eyes revealing the cold fury within, Jai realized that he would have to act fast if he intended to come out of this in one piece.

"You were supposed to protect her!" Mercer snapped as he stopped his momentum momentarily.

Jai's eyes narrowed as he followed the man's every move, circling as he'd been taught over the years, "Kinda hard to do when you're purposefully putting her in harms way."

With a guttural cry, misinterpreting the words spoken to him, Ben Mercer lunged forward and landed a solid jab to Jai's nose. The dark haired man recoiled with a loud grunt, slamming into the wall beside him. With a palm flat against the wall he angled himself 45 degrees to allow himself more room to navigate in the close quarters of the dingy back hallway tucked deep inside the airport. Mercer threw a punch, Jai countered with his right arm and landed an upper cut to Mercer's abdomen with his left. Mercer hissed as his left arm grabbed Jai's wrist, pulling him in as he landed a well placed forward kick to the knee. As Jai hunched over in a moment of pain, Mercer grabbed him by the throat and forced him to full height as he slammed him once again into the wall.

"The Agency is responsible for that," Ben spat as his lip curled into a vicious sneer, his fingertips pressing into the man's larynx.

Jai's eyes went wide at a position over Ben's left shoulder, dark eyes seeming to peer into his very soul, and at that moment he realized that this was one predicament he could have never forseen. He gasped for air, black dots dancing in front of his eyes, as he watched the blunt object strike Ben at the base of his skull. Immediately the grip on his throat was gone and Jai struggled for breath as he watch Mercer stumble backward and away from them.

"Auggie-" Jai choked as he brought an arm up to his neck and another one out to the wall.

Auggie reached forward and grabbed his arm, propelled him forward, and kneed him in the abdomen. Jai felt whatever breath he had left in him rush out with the single blow. A strong hand gripped his neck, pulling him upright without a moment to recover, and then he felt the heel of the man's hand connect with his nose. The last thing Jai Wilcox saw as he collapsed to the ground was the look of pure anger on the blind man's face. It would be a long time before he lived this one down.

With his hand flat against Jai's chest, Auggie closed his eyes and his body immediately stiffened, "You know, Mercer, a smarter man would have remained hidden."

From his position in the shadows, Ben Mercer could not conceal his shock as he wiped the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth, "You weren't subtle in your attempts to find me, Anderson. Most people would have called."

"I'm not most people," Auggie responded as he rose to full height, his hand loosely gripped around the handle of his white cane.

Mercer watched as the man closed his eyes and took in two deep breaths in an attempt to center himself for the inevitable confrontation, "We both want the same thing."

Auggie chuckled darkly, a dangerous smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, "Somehow I doubt that."

Mercer narrowed his eyes as he watched the man before him seemingly take in his surroundings. It was unnerving. He'd heard stories about the blind head of Tech Ops in the DPD. Stories about his blindness being some sort of charade because the man seemed to know instinctively who you were and where you were at any given moment. His reactions to stimuli, often looking directly at you in a way that seemed to look right through you, caused more than enough people to talk about their interactions. Ben had long since read his file upon learning of the man's growing relationship with Annie. Special Forces. Purple Heart. The man was highly skilled with proficiency in Krav Maga, Muay Thai, Tai Kwon Do, Jujitsu, and boasts one of the highest IQs in the Agency. It was no secret why August Anderson remained in the Agency after the explosion took his sight four years ago.

"Anderson," Mercer began as he slowly began to resume his movements, an attempt to disorient the man and gain the upper hand.

Remain calm. Those were the words running through his mind as Ben attempted to throw him off with scuffs, taps to the wall, and calling his name as he paced around the small hallway. Auggie had been surprised to learn that it was Mercer who followed Jai into the secluded corridor. He'd listened with mock interest as the two fought. He could tell by the blows that the fight was uneven, but then again he'd never had much confidence in Wilcox's ability to fight. Fortune favors the bold. That was the old saying, wasn't it? In a lightning fast move, Auggie closed the distance between them and landed a solid forward kick to Mercer's chest. The man flew backward, hand reaching to the wall to steady himself much as Jai had done before. Mercer blocked a series of three blows, grabbing one of Auggie's wrists and twisting but not before the dark haired man landed a well place kick to his kidneys. Auggie righted himself, his hands in guard position as he patiently awaited the next move. Mercer came forward, the movement of air caused Auggie to angle himself slightly and he brought his elbow up to strike. It hit directly in the ribs, then he pivoted on his foot and landed another elbow to Mercer's head. As Ben staggered backward, disoriented from the blow, Auggie delivered a merciless punch to his nose. The larger man fell to the ground in a heap with his opponent immediately on top of him, his strong fingers attempting to collapse his windpipe.

From his unceremonious position on the ground, Ben Mercer recognized that he'd sorely underestimated the skill, ability, determination, and absolute fury that ran through the blood of Auggie Anderson. Swallowing hard, his Adam's Apple barely moving between the fingers of the man poised to cause considerable damage if further provoked. Searching his mind for any tactical advantage other than relying on his sight, Ben quickly allowed his gaze to fall to the unconscious body of his former handler. Wilcox picked a fine time to have his ass handed to him by a blindcovert operative. The thought was hypocritical, naturally, but Ben was confident that he could somehow turn the tables. The crux of the matter was whether he could do it without inflicting or receiving serious injury. Judging from the tension in his captor's body, the anger coming off him in waves and so palpable that one could taste it, Ben thought that would be damned near impossible.

"Auggie!" a hoarse cry from behind startled him from delivering the killing blow.

Mercer's eyes went wide as he saw Wilcox push himself up to his knees, a hand outstretched as he fell into a coughing fit. Anderson hadn't moved and the tension had not left his body, though Mercer detected some change in him albeit slight.

Jai rose on shaky limbs, his knee protesting as he placed more weight on it than he ought to have, "If you kill him we'll never know what happened-"

"We know what happened, Jai. You were there. I was there," Auggie practically seethed with anger as he made no move to remove himself from his current position.

"No!" Jai coughed again and gingerly rubbed his throat, "You've got it wrong!"

"He killed her!" Auggie spat, the venom evident in his voice.

"No!" Ben croaked as he risked a slight shake of his head, "I loved her."

Auggie's fist connected with Ben's nose in a sickening crunch, "Annie is dead because of you!"

"The intel was bad Auggie, but we know it didn't come from Mercer. She's at Ramstein! That's why I'm here. That's why I have been tracking you for nearly a day. You left. You left before Ranger 4 confirmed it. Annie is alive!"

Alive? The moment of hesitation was all Mercer needed to extricate himself from his position on the ground. His blow to Auggie's head set the man flying across the floor and Mercer scrambled backward before the younger man could recover. His hand went to his nose, pain shooting from the broken bone, and wiped the blood that trailed down his face.

"Talk fast, Jai," Mercer growled as he watched Auggie push himself up to a kneeling position, spitting blood from his mouth.

Jai took in a deep breath and reached into his jacket pocket, slowly retrieving his cell phone. He flipped open the cover and punched in a series of numbers. Watching the two men warily, Jai chose his next words very carefully.

"Joan, I'm putting you on speaker. I need confirmation of Walker's status," Jai conveyed shakily as he then removed the phone from his ear and pressed another button.

"Jai? Annie is stable. She arrived at Ramstein four hours ago and is in surgery. No further updates," the even voice of Joan Campbell filled the room, "What the hell is going on?"

"I've made contact with Auggie and Mercer," Jai responded evenly, "I'll get back to you on the particulars later."

Auggie found himself leaning against the wall for support, his face impassive as he seemed to be processing what he'd heard only moments before. This could be a ruse, couldn't it? A clever way to lure him back to Langley. Of course, Mercer was here. Think Auggie! He closed his eyes and took in a deep, steadying breath as he heard both Mercer and Wilcox shuffle around the room. The tension in the confined area had resolved somewhat, but the undercurrent still remained.

"Blind guy takes down two CIA elite," Auggie smirked, his spark seemingly back as he sought to inject levity in the situation.

Jai rolled his eyes, "I'm never going to live this down, am I?"