Disclaimer: I owneth not Covert Affairs. You should-eth knoweth this by now. :)
Chapter 17
Annie breathed in the cool spring morning air and took in the blooming campus surrounding them. Dogwoods, magnolias, and lilies were strategically arranged all over campus, and she couldn't help but admire its beauty.
True, they'd only been gone for a little under a week, but still, she had missed this place. She kinda wished Auggie could see it now, in its splendor. He'd never really mentioned appreciating beauty like this, but still, she wished she could share it with him.
"Ready to be a librarian again?"
His eyes twinkled mischievously down at her. "Baby, I was born to be a librarian."
She snorted into his shirtsleeve. "Yeah, okay."
By some miracle, they'd managed to be released from the hospital that next day, but Annie could have sworn that if Auggie had gone on another of his capers, they would have held the both of them for spite. She didn't want to count the number of times he'd appeared in her doorway, grinning like a fool, each time carrying some type of contraband. It had been chocolate ice cream the first time, and coffee the second. She didn't even want to know where he'd gotten it all from.
Though they'd been perfectly willing to go back to work that same day, John Bradley, the principal, had insisted they take off until the end of the week. With all that had happened during the accident, it was shocking that Annie and Auggie hadn't been hurt worse, and John insisted that they needed "time with each other to reflect on the gift of life you've been given."
John said things like that a lot. Annie wasn't sure what was wrong with the man, but he had a good heart, so she never questioned it. She missed being at the heart of the action, and she sincerely hoped nothing happened while they were forced out, but really, what could they do? She'd tried to show up Tuesday afternoon to pick up some grading materials—and maybe get an update from Aurélie—but John, with some help from Tess and Vivian, had ushered her right back out the door.
So, for the past three days, they'd slept in late, had waffles for breakfast each morning, went over what little information they'd been able to get from Jai about the SUV that had plowed into them, and fell asleep in each other's arms together on the couch watching reruns Hogan's Heroes, Hawaii Five-0, and Castle.
Now it was Friday, and John was finally letting them back in the school. She could smell whiney teenagers, old textbooks, turkey sandwiches, and that weird air refreshener that the janitors insisted on spraying in every room, and she wondered if Auggie's heightened senses were starting to rub off on her.
She pressed in a little closer to his side and hugged his arm tighter, and she pushed up on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Auggie ducked a little, grinning to himself, as he felt her perfect, adorable nose press into his cheek. When she began to pull away, he turned his head just to the right angle, and before she could escape, he captured her lips in a proper kiss. It didn't last very long, and it wasn't as passionate or desperate or sweet as some of the kisses they'd shared, but when he pulled away, he was grinning, and he whispered, "I love you" like it was an undisputable fact of the universe, and it was just something that needed to be said.
She just stared up at him for a moment, a mixture of wonder and pleasure covering her face, before she laughed a little and reached for his arm again. "C'mon," she said. "We're gonna be late."
Annie held the front door open for Auggie and turned to look back at him as they both stepped into the foyer area. "Hey, Auggie, do you—"
Before she could finish her sentence, shouts, kazoos, laughter, and whoops of joy filled the air as the lights flickered on. At the center of the crowd that filled the entryway—which had to include the whole student body, not to mention all the faculty—stood Aurélie, Vivian, and Tess, grinning widely.
Tears began to burn at the back of Annie's eyes. She'd never thought of herself as a sappy kind of girl, but their beaming smiles proved how much they loved her and Auggie. She didn't understand this kind of love, that these people they were living lies to could embrace them so easily.
Aurélie broke from the crowd, running to Annie's and Auggie's side. With a grin, she threw her arms around them both, seemingly unaware of Annie's still-stiff neck and Auggie's broken finger. "You're okay!" she squealed.
Annie cringed as she absorbed Aurélie's energy, holding up the three of them. Aurélie's impulsive attack had thrown Auggie, and he hadn't been prepared enough to keep his balance. But as Aurélie snuggled closer, wriggling her way between them, Annie let herself settle into the hug. They were safe. Aurélie was safe.
After a moment, Aurélie pulled away a little and said, "C'mon!" She grabbed Auggie's hand, not seeming to notice he was just disoriented enough to feel out of his element, and pulled him toward the group of people waiting for them. Annie reached out, grabbing Auggie's hand, as she stumbled after them.
When the students and faculty enveloped them into their midst, Annie stared, with surprise, at the table. Three huge cakes graced the long table, and John Bradley stood behind it, looking as if he was about to serve the cake.
"Cake?" Annie asked.
John shrugged. "Clearly, not our brightest hour. But we figured it'd be okay, this once. Besides, how could we let the return of our favorite librarian and French teacher go unnoticed?" He winked at her, and she blushed. It was more of a grandfatherly wink than a move, and she was touched that they cared so much about her and Auggie.
Annie slipped into Auggie's arms, wrapping her arms around his waist, as they became even more of the center of attention. As cake was doled out to the entire student body and faculty, everyone peppered them with questions about the accident and their progress. Annie decided right there that chocolate cake and morbid curiosity did not mix. She was glad she could let Auggie take the wheel. He was good in the limelight, and she couldn't help but grin as she listened to his overly dramatic retelling of the accident, being sure to puff up every detail that made his audience ooh and aah. His audience ate up his hospital stories, laughing at the nurse that always tried to pull them apart, listening intently with wide smiles at every romantic gesture Auggie had performed—and created, just for the story.
The whole time, he made sure to keep Annie tucked in his arms, playing with her loose blond tresses as he talked. He looked so comfortable, so at ease, and she loved the way he so easily filled the role of being the man who loved her.
Before long, the group disbanded, heading to their respective classrooms. She watched, torn, as her students headed to her classroom. She knew she should probably let Auggie find his way to the library—he certainly knew his way—but after spending the last half hour tucked at his side, she really didn't want to leave him.
Sensing her hesitancy, he reached up and cupped her cheek, kissing her softly. "Go. I'll be fine, Annie. I can find my way."
"I know."
"Besides, who knows what crappy sort of French teacher has been entertaining them for the past four days. They need someone to put them in their places again."
Annie snorted. "Yeah, okay, Aug." But she got his message.
She paused in the hallway, and, before he could escape, she ran to catch up. "At least walk me to my classroom?"
He beamed back at her, offering his elbow ceremoniously. "It would be my pleasure."
Annie laughed into his arm as she hugged it. Sometimes, she just didn't know what she would do without Auggie.
Stu pushed through the double doors that led into tech ops, the doors banging against the walls in his haste, and he tore through the DPD bullpen, not seeming to notice (or care) that the majority of the eyes in the room followed his hurried journey to Joan's office, as he tripped over his own feet a couple of times.
The operatives in the bullpen began to whisper to each other. What was going on? Stu Heatherton always lived in the shadows—he was the reserved sort of tech analyst who preferred to stay relatively unknown.
Stu pounded on Joan's door for a moment before plowing through, his chest heaving from his unexpected journey. "Joan!"
Joan glanced up from her paperwork slowly, her glare a mix between warning and piqued interest. "Can I help you, Mr. Heatherton?"
Stu glanced around Joan's impressive office and suddenly realized what he'd done. He withdrew into himself, seeming to cower right in front of Joan, and he silently shoved the paper he was holding onto her desk, right in front of her.
"Read it," Stu insisted.
Joan's eyes grew increasingly wider as she read line after line of decoded cipher, and, when she finished reading, she looked up at Stu. "This was the message Vivian intercepted?" she asked, all gripes about his interruption forgiven.
Stu just nodded, his arms folded over his chest. "Yeah. It took me forever to find the right book for the cipher, but once I did—boom."
Joan nodded and glanced back down at the paper. The message was written out in Stu's extravagant scrawl. She still couldn't believe it's contents—here was tangible proof that Baptiste Perrot and Niko Petrakis were after the device Aurélie Perrot was creating on the behalf of Bill.
Bill, the terrorist who wreaked havoc on every major city and village in Europe. Bill, the terrorist Joan had spent a good part of her career trying to track down. Bill, the terrorist who had spent the majority of his career trying to pick a fight with a certain Arthur Campbell of the CIA. But most puzzling, Bill, the international terrorist who made it excruciatingly clear that Baptiste Perrot was not his ally.
She needed to talk to Arthur about this. She needed to make sure Annie and Auggie were safe. She needed a plan. She needed to destroy Bill.
But right now, she needed Stu Heatherton not to worry. Without Auggie manning tech ops, Stu was the unofficial leader, and Joan needed tech ops running smoothly should she need them in the near future.
Smiling reassuringly up at Stu, she said, "So, what book was it?"
He glanced back in the direction of tech ops a bit self-consciously. "Um, The Count of Monte Cristo."
Joan's eyebrows rose in interest, and then, folding the paper in half, she said, "Thanks, Stu. I'll take it from here."
Taking the cue, Stu nodded and took his departure, grateful the whole DPD didn't make a huge spectacle of his prior trip to Joan's office as he made his way back to tech ops.
"Joan! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Arthur teased, grinning up at his wife as she silently stormed through the door to his office. He quickly mellowed when he saw the look on her face. "What is it?"
She threw the folded piece of paper onto his desk, and waited while he picked it up and unfolded it. "Bill's back."
Joan gave her husband time to read the note, and when he looked up at her again, she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't like this one bit."
Arthur gave her a sympathetic look and sighed softly. "Joan, honey, look… Annie and Auggie are two completely different people from us. They'll be able to attack Bill from a completely different angle. They're good at what they do. You've said it a million times. Trust them a little. Trust in your judgment."
Joan sighed. "I do… I just—"
Arthur gave her a tender look and walked around his desk, enveloping her in his arms. Slowly, she relaxed against him, burying her face in his chest as she hugged him back. Arthur really was too perfect for her.
"Annie and Auggie will be fine, Joan. Trust me."
She sighed softly, breathing in the mix of his cologne and aftershave. She loved it when he held her like this. Somehow, he had magical powers to make all her worries go away.
Annie stopped short when she rounded the corner to the math and science wing of MCA, surprised to see Joan walking straight towards her. "Joan-anna?" she stuttered.
Joan grinned brightly, as if Annie were just the person she was looking for. "Annie, hey. Is Auggie around? I came to take you out to dinner, if you are both up to it. I'm in town for the weekend, and I thought it'd be nice to catch up…"
Annie stared back at Joan dumbly. How was Joan so good at keeping up a ruse? She had just said hey. Hey. Like they really were old friends that hadn't seen each other in months. She was so… casual, and sweet, and… caring?
Joan was reaching out to Annie, as if she meant to hug her, and Annie quickly buried her comically confused look, hugging Joan in reply. When they pulled away, Annie nodded in the direction of the library. "Yeah, Auggie's just in the library. We were getting ready to leave for the day in a few minutes, anyway."
Joan nodded and followed Annie to the library. "So how do you like it here?"
Annie glanced back at Joan, trying to figure out how she was supposed to treat her boss in the field. "Um, good. We love it. The kids are really great, and it's been a great opportunity for us. I'm not so sure this side project we're sponsoring is great for our health, but it's important."
Annie didn't miss the slight smirk on Joan's lips at that comment as she walked through the double doors on the side of the library. She grinned when she saw Auggie, relaxing in his office. She knocked twice on the double doors. "Hey, baby, guess who's here?"
She stepped out of the way, allowing Joan entrance, and Auggie listened for a moment. "Joanna!"
Joan smirked in Auggie's direction. "What gave me away?"
Auggie smirked right back at her. "How many times do I have to tell you how distinctive that necklace is?"
Joan just rolled her eyes, but pulled Auggie into a hug anyway. True, Annie and Auggie were her employees, but they were her special employees. She'd always had a soft spot for the two of them, and knowing they were safe was reassuring.
She couldn't say what would come next—Bill against Annie and Auggie was like Goliath facing David. But hey, if David could defeat Goliath, then Annie and Auggie certainly had hope.
A/N: Yeah, I totally poned Stu's last name from Beth – Geek Chic, but seriously, she's way more awesome at coming up with last names that fit existing characters than I am! And I don't feel too bad about it, since I know for a fact several other authors have done the same thing. lol. But yes, all credit does go to her. :)
I hope you liked it! It was kinda more of a filler chapter for details about the case, but in a chapter or two, it's going to really pick up!
Review, please!