"Jesus Christ!"

It was kind of grotesquely beautiful, the way the varying purples and greens and blues swirled and burst apart in a pattern one might associate with fireworks, were it not for the canvas of skin said colors were displayed upon.

Ughhhhh, Wonderful."

"That sounds promising."

Annie, currently in only her purple lace bra and battle-torn, dark grey business pants, whipped around, and preceded to grab the sink as a pained gasp ripped from her throat at the sudden movement.

"Auggie? Wh-Weren't you in Colombia the last time I talked to you...yesterday?"

She could see that he had very clearly just left the airport. For one, the leather satchel he magically stuffs any and all supplies into for any amount of time away from home, was draped diagonally over his left shoulder to rest at his right hip. He was also not dressed in his usual work attire, but rather in his preferred long sleeve gray cotton tee, a frumpy maroon sweatshirt that hung from a messy knot around his hips, and baggy, dark-wash jeans, that lead down to his ever-present brown loafers. That and he was now scoping his way across the white and black tiled floor towards her with his white cane, which he uses when out in the public-eye in the stead of his green laser.

"I told you I was only going to be there through thursday."

Annie, still paused with her hand holding the sink, blinked owlishly at him.

"Wait, It's Friday already?"

He went about executing an exaggerated eye roll as his cane finally came into contact with her Louboutin heel, and slowly tilted his head down towards her gaze, brown eyes focusing somewhere around her left shoulder.

"I just wanted to check in and make sure no one had moved my trashcan again, and ran into Stu, who told me you were sent on a little flight to Chile, and that judging by the fact that you were sporting a lovely new shade of purple around your neck and looked like you were in desperate need of a good ol' shot of Patron, It wasn't exactly a smooth ride."

He smirked slightly as she groaned, his eyes flickering when that groan hitched as her abused throat and ribs stretched.

"You could say that. I got the info, but not before the goon tailing me got his fair share of the action. Lucky for me, I have a best friend who kicks ass at combat training."

He chuckled, but then his gaze drifted over her, as if he were trying to assess her injuries.

"How bad?"

"Well, Joan had me checked over for any broken bones, but after that was ruled out I said I could take care of the bandaging. I've got some badly bruised ribs, If you could see it you'd swear my skin was actually purple and that I bruise tan, no lasting damage to my trachea, though i've got some nice coloring there, a cut on my forehead and a lovely black eye, where my 'dance partner' tossed me into a coffee cart, but other than that, I'm just really, sore."

Auggie let out an appreciative whistle, and began folding up his cane, while dislodging his satchel, letting it drop to the bathroom floor.

"Well, I happen to be excellent at first aid, and have a complementary ride to Allen's Tavern. Need a hand?"

"Aug, I'd say you just became my new best friend, but we've already done that bit, so I'll stick with thanks."

"It's what I'm here for. So, where are you at with the patching business?"

Annie carefully grabbed the box of supplies she had precariously balanced on the sink, along with her change of clothes, slowly shifting back to face him.

"I actually haven't even started. I had just finished assessing the damage myself when you came in."

He clapped his hands

"Perfect, now that I know I don't have to fix your mess," He shot a smile at her as if he could see the burning desire to punch his shoulder cross her face, but her body took some offense at that idea.

"We can do this right. Ok, so, last I 'accidentally' entered the little ladies' room,"

Annie snorted

"I distinctly remember there being a rather comfortable shelf space to sit on."

She sighed, shook her head, and gingerly reached her left arm to his. He seemed to sense her fear of being bumped, and he carefully wrapped his hand around her bicep.

"Along the wall to your, ouch, to your 11 o'clock." she murmured, slowly unlatching his hand from her arm, placing it on the countertop. "But Aug, not sure that's gonna work, I don't think I can get up there, my muscles are shot."

Carefully gliding his hand over the surface of the synthetic counter, he carefully slid the med supplies aside. He then reached out, and after grazing his hand against her shoulder, took a firmer hold on both of her elbows.

"Bend your arms close to your sides, lock the joints." She looked at him first in confusion, then apprehension, but did as he asked. "This will jolt you a little bit, so brace yourself." Auggie then lightly jerked her into the air, lifting her up by her elbows, and carefully lowered her onto the shelf. Annie rubbed her side a bit, but couldn't stop the smile.

"Show-off."

"Lightweight."

"Spfft. Ok Dr. Auggie, work your magic." He grinned, and made a show of linking his hands, an impressive crack sounding as he stretched them in front of himself.

"Alright. Now, before I go blindly probing away, give me an idea of what I'm 'looking' at , and where the areas I-shouldn't-touch-a-ten-foot-feather-duster-it-hurts-so-bad are." He really would be the best doctor, in another life. Annie thought to herself as she looked up into his expectant, warm gaze.

"Well, the ribs are obviously a major part of the damage, according to the emt that gave me the once-over i've got some pretty undesirable bruising, but I can deal with it like a big girl, forehead stings a little, but not too much, the right side of my face however, that feels like its been hit with a 2x4..."

He nodded sagely.

"a proper ass-whooping if I ever heard one." Annie's mouth popped open in consternation, even as the corners of her lips struggled to defeat the smile threatening to dominate her very sore face.

"Hey! I gave just as much as I got, buster, and if I weren't afraid of ending up on the floor curled up in a ball from the pain, I would hit you." his eyes scrunched as his signature, halting chuckle bubbled up from the depths of his military-issued chest.

"Duly-noted, my mild-mannered invalid." he promptly, and very gently, traced his hand up her arm and patted her uninjured cheek.

To Be Continued.