They were halfway home before Annie brought it up again.
"No but why not?"
Auggie had been half-asleep in the passenger seat. "Why what?" he mumbled.
"Why shouldn't Lucy join the Agency?"
"Annie, you're great. You're a lovely girl. But you haven't slept in like a day and a half, and I haven't slept in two. These ideas look great now, but in the morning you're going to wonder what the hell you were thinking."
"She's smart, she's scrappy, she doesn't crack under pressure..."
"She totally cracked under pressure."
"She cracked under the influence of love and affection, Auggie."
"This is not the kind of life I want her to have," Auggie mumbled, head back and eyes closed. "Not eating, not sleeping, living at gunpoint."
"We do not live at gunpoint."
"You're swerving. You're not a good driver."
"I'm exhausted," Annie griped, pulling to a stop in front of Auggie's building. "Get out."
Auggie opened the door and unfolded his cane on the sidewalk, then paused. "Hey, do you just want to come up?"
"U-up? Like, to your place?"
"You're exhausted. The last thing we need is you wrapping your car around a tree. Just come up and crash."
Annie examined his face. He was tired. He was earnest. He was Auggie. There wouldn't be any funny business.
"Sure."
