Disclaimer: Covert Affairs is still not mine. Adorable Hannah and Annabelle, however, are all mine! :)

Chapter 3

Annie was only marginally surprised when Vivian threw herself into Annie's arms. "Hey, you! Can't believe I'm seeing you again!"

Annie returned the hug, her eyes locking with Auggie's for a moment, and she threw him an amused grin.

It quickly died on her lips. Oh, yeah. Auggie couldn't see.

How was it possible that one dream had so entirely changed everything?

When Vivian pulled away, Annie plastered on a brave smile for the room. "Viv, what are you doing here?" she asked, a million other questions in her eyes. She had never expected to see her again.

Vivian's eyes traveled to the man she had been standing with a few moments ago, adoration clearly in her eyes, and Annie noticed, with a jolt of surprise, that it was none other than Jai Wilcox. "No way," she whispered.

Vivian grinned. "C'mon, Annie. I want you to meet my girls."

"Your—your girls?" Annie asked. It had only been about eighteen months since the mission in London. How was it possible she had girls?

She smiled proudly. "I'll—I'll tell you the whole story later, if we have time," she explained. "But right now, all I have time to explain is that I'm a foster mom, and Jai and I are trying to adopt them."

When they arrived in the corner where Jai was explaining something to Stu and Barber, Annie noticed an adorable dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty. She was tugging on Jai's pant leg, and with an affectionate smile, Jai reached down and threw her into the air, eliciting a round of giggles. "Again, Daddy!" she pled, and Jai threw her into the air again. Another round of giggles ensued.

Vivian slipped under Jai's free arm and leaned up and kissed him. "Hey, baby," she said.

He kissed her back and pulled her closer. "Hey to you, too."

Annie wanted to cry at the love radiating off of Jai. Would Auggie ever love her like that? She didn't even know if he even wanted to love her.

Vivian turned back to Annie. "Oh, Annie!" She covered her face with her hands in a show of embarrassment. "I almost forgot!"

She turned to Hannah. "Hey, baby girl. C'mere, a second." She lifted the little girl into her arms. "Annie," she said, pausing to share her proud grin. "This is Hannah, soon-to-be Wilcox." She kissed her daughter's cheek affectionately. "Hannie Bananie, this is my friend Annie."

Hannah ducked her head shyly, and Annie smiled. "She's beautiful, Viv."

Vivian smiled proudly in return. "Annabelle's sleeping, over there, in the corner."

"They're so adorable, Viv."

She beamed. "Thanks, Annie," she said, bouncing Hannah on her hip. "It hasn't been easy, being a mom, but it's so worth it."

Annie ducked her head, trying to keep Vivian from seeing the tears trying to form. How was it possible that Vivian had so much, and yet, here she was, single, work defining her life?

From the front of the room, Joan called, "Okay, people! Let's get this party started!"

Bea took Hannah and Annabelle from Vivian and Jai, so they wouldn't have to hear the briefing, and Vivian took her seat next to Jai. Annie slipped into her seat next to Auggie.

"What was that all about?" he whispered.

"Apparently, Viv's a mom. I'll tell you later."

Joan was already beginning the meeting. A photo of a middle-aged French man was flashed up on the screen. "This is Baptiste Perrot. I'm sure you all know his success as an international arms dealer." She paused, and a photo of several pages of notebook paper, covered in pages of cipher. "He's been discovered to be working through a local private high school in Manassas, Virginia, in the past few weeks."

Another slide, this one of two high school-aged children. A pretty French girl, dark brown hair, glowing green eyes, and a Greek boy, curly hair, intense brown eyes. Both attractive, both juniors. "Aurelie Perrot and Alexander Christakos. Aurelie Perrot is Baptiste's only daughter, and Alexander Christakos is believed to be the nephew of arms dealer Niko Petrakis."

Joan nodded to Vivian, and Annie noticed that she leaned closer into Jai's side. What had happened to Vivian? And how had she gotten in the middle of this mess? "Vivian Long was responsible for discovering the ring." She paused. "Vivian is now a history teacher at Mercy Christian Academy when she discovered Perrot and Christakos passing notes in her class. She confiscated them, and, the next day, she received a note from Baptiste Perrot himself." The next slide flashed on the screen, and none of them needed to hear Joan's words to feel the impact. "Leave well-enough alone, Miss Long. Leave my matters to me, and I will let Hannah, Annabelle, and Jai remain your matters. B. Perrot."

Annie gripped the edge of her seat. The man was going after innocent orphans? Going after a friend, after two friends, was war. But going after two adorable orphan girls, just trying to find love? What kind of monster was that?

"Annie, Auggie," Joan called. "You will be going undercover as teachers at Mercy Christian Academy. Annie, you will be a French teacher, and Auggie, you will be the school librarian. In order to solidify your cover as teachers, you will be going undercover as a married couple. Mr. and Mrs. August and Anais Anderson."

Annie flipped through her file, finding the information about her cover, trying desperately to ignore the fact that she was supposed to be married to Auggie. She could barely sit next to him during a briefing—how in the world was she supposed to pretend she was in love with the man she was actually in love with, without tipping the genius to the fact that she actually did love him?

"Joan?" the voice beside her said, and her heart melted at the eager glee, the naked hope, she heard in his voice. Stupid heart.

"Yes, Auggie?"

"I'm going in?"

She offered him a smile. "Yes, Auggie. You're going in."

Annie let herself revel—for only a moment—in the pure joy she saw on her best friend's face. Auggie was going in the field. She tried to forget the way Auggie had played with danger the last time he'd been in the field, rescuing Natasha. No. This time, Auggie would be okay. She was more experienced as an agent, and she would be with him, every step of the way. They could do this.

She let herself enjoy a private smile as she watched Auggie squirm his little happy jig in his chair, noticed only by her.

Joan was already forging on through the rest of the briefing, and Annie struggled to keep up. Joan was nodding to Auggie's tech team, sitting across from them at the table. "Figuring out this code is top priority. We know Perrot is passing on intel, most likely to Niko Petrakis, and we need to know what is happening." She turned to Annie and Auggie again. "Since we know Perrot, and most likely Petrakis, will be watching you, this will be a deep cover operation. Your only association to our world will be Jai, since he and Vivian are engaged now."

The room erupted into applause, and Auggie turned to Annie. "Did I just hear Joan right?"

She couldn't help laughing at the look on his face. "Yeah. They have two girls, too."

"Jai's a dad?"

She laughed again at the incredulity in his voice. "Yeah. I'll tell you about it later, when we have a second."

He couldn't hide his smirk, but they listened as Joan continued. "We will pass on what we discover to you, as soon as possible, but keep your eyes and ears open for anything you can find out. If you can get close to Aurelie or Alexander, do so. We are hoping that we can use them to get to Baptiste and Niko."

Annie nodded, and Joan closed her file. "That's all. Let's get to work." She paused. "Oh, and Annie, Auggie? I need to speak to you for a moment."

The agents around the room begun packing up their things and returning to their own desks, and, as Annie and Auggie closed their files, Annie listened with a groan as a few of the passing agents offered Auggie congratulations on finally wedding his new wife.

She stood to her feet and pulled him up next to her. "You'd think they'd wait until I wasn't right next to them before they bring it up," she grumbled.

He laughed as he found her elbow, letting her guide them to Joan. "Annie, they're worse than gossiping grandmothers."

She groaned again, resting her head briefly against his shoulder. "I know, I know. But seriously?"

He laughed again and patted her arm. "Just think. In a few hours, we'll be away from them all, and it'll be just you and me against the bad guys."

She groaned inwardly. Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

Joan nodded to them when they were a few feet away. Handing Annie a set of keys, she said, "We rented an apartment for you, in Manassas. The address is located in the file. We have our people sweeping it for bugs right now, just to be on the safe side. You're expected to move in tonight, and we have people furnishing it as we speak. Since you'll be both moving in today and preparing for your covers, you're not expected to start work at the high school until Wednesday. I'll have Jai and Vivian drop off prepared lesson plans and such this evening."

They both nodded, and she said, "Any questions?"

Annie had a huge question, but begging to be taken off the mission would create a lot of questions she didn't need, and she expected Auggie would be hurt by her request, too. "D-do we have to be married?" she ventured.

"Don't want to marry me, Annie?" he teased. "Don't worry. I make for a very doting husband."

"You've done this before?"

"Gone undercover as a husband? Yes. And I'll knock your socks off." He was grinning broadly, proudly, and Annie wanted to smack that cheeky grin off his face. Either that, or kiss that smirk off his face.

Definitely the latter.

She chastised herself inwardly. Annie! Stop that!

Annie rolled her eyes, and Joan spoke. "Yes, Annie. You'll be fine. But it'll be much more convincing that a husband and wife got new jobs at a high school together, rather than just two really good friends from college." She smiled to herself as she watched the two agents' interactions. She decided, for now, that she wouldn't mention Arthur's matchmaking scheme when he'd heard about the case.

"That'll be all. Oh, and Stu has your wedding rings in tech ops. Be sure you pick them up before you leave to pack."

Annie nodded, turning and guiding Auggie out of the room.

Jai surprised the couple as they walked out of the conference room. "Married, huh?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

Annie rolled her eyes. "Leave us alone, Jai. And what is this, with you engaged? When did this happen?"

Auggie's eyes twinkled. "Are you really engaged? To Vivian?"

Jai rolled his eyes. "Har-har. I knew you guys would say this. That's why I didn't bring it up."

Annie sighed dramatically. "Jai. You're a dad. A fah-ther. Of two adorable little girls, by the way. How could you not tell us?"

"For this reason! I knew you guys would laugh."

Annie smiled affectionately, squeezing his arm. "They're adorable, Jai. Congratulations."

He smiled affectionately, thinking of them. "They're my world. I—I know I'm not going undercover with you, but I'll be around, and I'll be working the case. Just—just promise me. You can't let them do anything to Hannah or Annabelle."

Annie squeezed his hand in understanding. "We'll do everything we can, Jai."

He nodded, and Annie could swear she saw tears glimmering in his eyes. "Thanks," he said tersely, turning to see his little family huddling at his desk through the windows. "I—I'll see you later. I'm gonna go check on Vivi and the girls."

Annie nodded, and she watched with a smile as he hurried through the doors. Annie wanted to cry when she saw little Hannah run to him, crashing into his knees, and begging to be lifted into his arms. Would she ever have a little girl like Hannah, who completely adored Auggie? Would Auggie ever love her as completely as Jai loved Vivian? Would any man ever love her as completely as Jai loved Vivian?

She sighed, pushing the questions away. She couldn't bear to think like that, not with Auggie right next to her. Pushing her thoughts away, she bumped Auggie's shoulder with her own. Forcing lightheartedness into her voice, she asked, "Sooo… you excited for your first field-sanctioned mission in almost two years?"

He grinned over at her. "You know it. Hey, can you drop me off at my apartment, on your way to pack? I want to get started, to make sure I'm ready."

She smiled softly. "Yeah, no problem, pal. Did you want to leave right away?"

"Give me an hour? I have something I need to finish up quick."

She smiled as they reached tech ops. "Sure. Don't forget to get the rings from Stu?"

He smiled, reaching up to pat her cheek affectionately. "Sure. I'll meet you at your desk in an hour?"

She smiled, leaning her shoulder against the doorway. "Okay. One hour. Don't be late."

He swiveled in her direction, grinning cheekily. "Why would I?"

"Because. You always get caught up in your work." She grinned at him. "Workaholic," she accused with a teasing smile.

He grinned back at her. "Not this time. One hour. I promise."

She smiled slowly. "Okay. See you then, Mr. Anderson."

"Okay, Mrs. Anderson," he teased back, lowering himself into his chair, already lifting the headphones to his ears.

Mrs. Anderson, she thought, hugging her arms around her waist thoughtfully as she returned to her desk.

That would be nice.

A/N: Sooooo… what do you think? Is Vivian and Jai weird? My sister and I thought they worked really well together, so… if you don't think so, sorry. But I already adore them as a couple, lol. And as for Hannah and Annabelle… the reasoning behind them being parents so early is coming, I promise. I know it's a wee bit impulsive… but if you've read any of my other stories, I don't know how you could think I could do a multi-chap story without putting adorable little kids in the story. :) Besides, after re-watching the episode with Vivian in it… she just seems impulsive enough to decide to adopt these kids, out of the blue. :)

Please let me know what you think!