I can't come up with an excuse for being crazy busy. School, a musical, and sickness. That is all.

Execrate (verb) – To detest, denounce, or curse

Set during Season 4 – So they're dating.:)

He clutched his glass tightly and literally bit his tongue to keep from lashing out. He was supposed to be listening to a story that Stu was telling him, but they were standing right next to Annie, who was stuck in a conversation with Mike, an executive from the seventh floor. He was shamelessly flirting with her and although she never responded with anything but politeness, he kept going. Auggie detested the man – he had never been too pleasant to begin with – but now he downright couldn't stop his hands from shaking with how angry he was.

He was sure that people could see the discomfort in his face, but Stu kept right on going so he must have been doing an okay job at hiding his feelings. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and punch the guy straight in the face but not only would he lose his job – other people would start suspecting things. Annie wanted to keep their relationship on the down low at least for a while, so that they could get used to being together with the job that they had.

So Auggie had to stand there and pretend that he didn't hear a word while Stu went on about his sister's new house.

"And they didn't even have a realtor help them, I mean, isn't that like, like a law?"

"Not really, Stu."

"Oh, I thought it was. Well, anyway, - hey, you okay?" Oops.

"Yeah, I'm fine." His face betrayed him though, and his body must have shifted a certain way because Stu suddenly let out a noise of understanding.

"Ah, I see. You're jealous."

Auggie swore his eyebrows went into his hairline. There's no way that Stu guessed correctly. "Jealous? Of what?"

"Of that guy who's talking to Annie. Or should I say harassing her."

"So I'm not the only one who thinks he's a creep?" He didn't know why the words came out but they did. He sneered and Stu laughed.

"Yep, you are definitely jealous. It's okay, it doesn't look like she's responding well. Careful there, you might break that poor glass that's done nothing to you."

Auggie attempted to release his death grip that he had on the glass and opted to just set on a nearby table. He had told Joan that this CIA party was a bad idea. He had given a whole long list of bullshitted reasons why they shouldn't when the real reason was that he'd have to deal with what was happening only a couple steps from him. Those was no denying that Annie Walker was one of the most attractive agents in the agency, and she had every guy lined up ready to take her out for a night.

"Tell me something. Are you jealous just because you want to talk to her and this guy's taking up all her time, or is it because you like her and his flirting is driving you crazy."

Auggie froze and turned toward Stu. He had never been this intuitive before.

"Well, I – "

"I knew it. You like her." Stu chuckled and was silent for a moment, which Auggie guessed meant he was sipping his drink. "It's okay, Aug, I see why you do. She's beautiful, intelligent, kind, - "

"She's so much more than that, though," Auggie interrupted, leaning against the table.

"Like...like what?" Auggie guessed that he startled Stu a bit with his answer. He debated back and forth in his head and after a short but heated battle with himself he said,

"We're already together."

Stu didn't answer and he must have been gaping like a fish.

"You mean – you two are..?"

"Dating. Yes."

"And so he's pretty much imposing on your territory."

"She's not property...but yes."

"Oh man. How did I not see that." He felt Stu lean next to him and there was a couple beats of silence before he spoke again. "What else is she?"

"What?"

"You said that there was so much more to her. What is there?"

Auggie deliberated a second. How could he possibly answer that question correctly? There was so much to Annie that not even he understood yet. He wasn't sure that his brain had finished thinking, but his mouth started speaking.

"She always leaves a cup of coffee on the nightstand, every morning, because she gets up before me. She once left me a tape recorded message when she had to leave early and now we leave them for each other almost every day. She sits through an entire movie with me and narrates the entire thing, even if I had seen it before my accident. She knows when I need to talk and when she just needs to rub my shoulders and just be with me. When she gets excited about something, the tone of her voice changes and it's hard to get her to stop talking, but I never want her to stop because she's so happy. She's content to sit at Allen's with me and share a couple beers while we rant about how hectic our lives are. She'll send me plenty of coded emails during work and never misses an opportunity to come up and actually talk to me. When it rains, she loves to go outside and jump in the puddles because her father never let her as a kid. She'll draw little patterns on my arms when we're just laying in bed, just I can feel that she's there. She doesn't cry often but when she does – I hate it. Absolutely hate it and it makes me feel worse when I can't do anything to help. She always knows when I'm in a mood, and can always defuse me and make me smile again. She sings loudly in the shower and in the car and I never knew that she could sing so well."

Auggie took a large breath and went silent, surprised on how the list goes on and on.

"And there's more. There's so much more."

"Wow. Dude. You are seriously in love."

A forced laugh made its way to Auggie's ears and he noticed it as Annie's. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to get her out of there.

"Yeah, yeah I am. Excuse me," he pushed himself off the table and strode over to where he heard her voice.

"Hey, Annie," he put on his fake smile and reached out to find her arm.

"Auggie! Hey! Um, Auggie, this is Mike. Mike, this is Auggie."

"Nice to meet you, Auggie." Mike stuck his hand out and Auggie was pretty sure he didn't realize that he couldn't see it.

"Nice to meet you," He nodded and Mike must have pulled his hand back awkwardly.

"Auggie is the head of tech ops in the DPD." Annie explained and he squeezed her arm gently.

"Are you? Well that must be an exciting job." Auggie had no problem hearing the sneer in Mike's voice. He was never kind to the ones on the lower floors, so Auggie had no problem being just as inconsiderate.

"Yeah, but at least I don't have to wear a suit and tie every day. I actually get to move around and be productive."

Annie held back a laugh, which sounded a little like a snort.

"Yes, well," Mike trailed a bit, obviously offended. "Annie, I was wondering, if you were free Friday night if you'd like to go out to dinner with me?"

Auggie bristled. Friday night was their movie and pizza night and there was no way he was letting Mike get in the way of that.

"Sorry, Mike, but I have to be honest with you. I don't necessarily like you like...that. You're a great guy and I'd love to be your friend, but I'm already taken. Romantically, I mean. So I won't be available for a date on Friday. Or a date ever."

Auggie beamed with pride at the authority in his girlfriends voice and he could feel Mike's gaze burning holes into his skull.

"Oh, well, that's fine. I understand. I'll see you around then?"

"Of course."

"Goodbye Annie. Auggie." Auggie didn't respond and he heard Mike's angry steps fade away.

"You couldn't have let him down a little easier? Poor guy seemed heartbroken," he chuckled and then felt a pressure on his chest.

"Thank you. That guy was talking my ears off. I don't know how much more I could've handled."

"Worse than those dates that Danielle set you up on?"

"Much worse." She laughed and patted his hand. "You want to get a drink? I need another one."

"Sure." He let her lead him over to the bar and she guided a wine glass into his hand.

"Hey, Auggie?"

"Hmm?" He asked, bringing the drink to his lips.

"Why is Stu looking at us with a huge smile on his face?" Auggie coughed a little as he choked in surprise.

"Oh um, here's the thing. He kinda knows now..."

"About us?" Her voice got really quiet and closer to his ear.

"Yeah. I accidently let it slip. I promise he's the only one that knows...except maybe Joan."

"Joan has her own weird 'Annie and Auggie' sense so we can't control that one, but as long as he doesn't tell anyone else..."

"He won't. I'm sure of it. And if he does...he's fired."

"Isn't that a little harsh?"

"It's either that or he gets all the codes sent in to the office for the next month. That's harsher."

"I'll take your word for it."

"How about we get out of here?" He brought his face closer to hers and nuzzled her nose.

"Yeah." She responded breathlessly. And as they walked out the door, her hand slid down to intertwine with his, and Auggie knew that if anyone saw his smile then, they would instantly know that there was something going on between August Anderson and his operative Annie Walker.

Well there you have it! Chapter three! I may do a little one line thingy with all the things (plus some) that Auggie listed about Annie. I started listing and seriously couldn't stop. So stay on the lookout for that! I also have another story in progress that involves that Jack of Diamonds and that whole story line...

Please read and review! Those things make for a happy me.