A/N: Here it is!
On time!
There are a lot of pivotal moments in this one, sort of a transition chapter but I like it!
Thanks for the suggestion that you will find in the first part (I'm sorry I don't remember your name)!
You'll see what I'm talking about!

I still need suggestions guys, for Christmas presents!
It's important!
And I'm lost...

We're about to reach 200 reviews!
AH!
You guys are amazing.
I'm going to start a series of oneshots when we reach that beautiful number!
Filled with your suggestions and fetishes - along with some of mine! ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs. Do they really keep track of these things?

"You are the loneliest girl in the world,
Taking your hits as they come.
You are the loneliest girl in the world,
And tonight you'd fall for anyone.

It's the way you fall down into bed,
And it's the way you cry when he's not looking.

You are the loneliest girl in the world,
I'll watch you die a thousand times again.
You are the loneliest girl in the world,
And I just want to make it go away.

And I just want to make it go away."

-The Cary Brothers, Loneliest Girl in the World

Loneliest Girl in the World

The atmosphere of the SUV was completely different when Stu was behind the wheel; there were no bumps or jerks, no sudden stops or accelerations. Smooth music slipped through the speakers, putting all but Annie and Stu to sleep. Earlier that day, Stu had offered his services as the designated driver. Apparently he'd never been much of a drinker. Annie wasn't sure why she was still awake, she could certainly feel the warmth of rum humming though her veins, weighing her down to the point of bliss. Still, she'd volunteered to stay up with Stu and help him with the GPS.

For a brief moment, Annie glanced back at Auggie who was caught in a deep sleep in the seat just behind Stu. His head was back, eyes closed, arms crossed and mouth relaxed. Once again he had fallen into that peaceful place that he couldn't seem to find in the waking hours.

She turned her attention back to Stu, suppressing a giggle as he mouthed the words to the song on the radio. Adele, if she wasn't mistaken.

"Stu," she heard herself say, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he smiled, looking content.

Of all Auggie's friends – no, her friends – Stu was certainly her favorite. There was just something soothing about him. He was so gentle.

"What was he like," she inquired softly, "Before he lost his sight? Is he very different?"

"Oh," Stu said, sounding slightly surprised. Then again, everyone in town knew Auggie when he could still see so she imagined Stu had never been asked that particular question before. "Well, there's a- It's kind of a difficult question."

"How so?"

"It sort of depends on the day, I guess," Stu began thoughtfully, "Lately he's been a lot like his old self. Somehow I think that has a lot to do with you."

Stu grinned at her and Annie couldn't help but smile back. There they were; those changes that come with the closeness of the other. Just as Clare changed Jamie, Annie had changed Auggie.

"Honestly, he was pretty damn pretentious – not that he isn't still-" Stu chuckled, "-especially in math class. He was always pissing our calculus teacher off. He was also incredibly hyperactive when he could see. I mean, he was always moving: he went running all the time, he won state championships in wrestling, anything he saw he tried. Now it's definitely different. He's always so cautious and like timid, I guess."

Stu glanced back in the rearview mirror to see if anyone was listening, but the lolling atmosphere hadn't been broken by their conversation.

There was this sudden understanding that overcame Annie; that tension he carried around with him now so clear. He was stuck inside his own body, always on the verge of breaking free but never quite making it. Maybe it was the rum but her emotions were running wild. As she stared at his sleeping form she knew that he would hate her at that moment but she couldn't help but feel sad for him; mourn his loss.

"He's so much more stiff than he used to be, certainly and his temper is a lot shorter," Stu seemed wistful, like talking all these things out made him miss his old friend, a friend that would never come back. "He doesn't like to deal with things, it's like, he projects everything onto Corrine and ignores everything that he's feeling and it- I'm sorry, this isn't what you asked for."

"No," Annie said softly. "It's alright, keep talking."

Until then, it hadn't hit Annie how much Auggie's trauma had thrown shockwaves that affected everyone around him. So he was a different person; his old self missed by many. Would she have felt the same way about him had she met him before? Would she have stuck with him after his sight had diminished? She thought so but how could she be certain? It seemed that a simple question had pulled up a lot more.

"I don't know," Stu sighed, "I love him, no matter how he's changed, I just wish that he'd be more honest with himself than he is."

"Sounds like you care about him a lot," she smiled.

"I do," Stu gave he a meaningful look, "He's like a brother to me and believe it or not, he takes care of me just as much as I take care of him. Don't know what I'd do without him, really."

There it was, the reason she liked him so much. There was that sense of caring with him that never seemed to die. Whether he liked to admit it or not, he was a softy. And much as it scared her to admit it there was no denying; it was such a Ben thing.

oOo

They dropped her off first as her house was closest. Though she was tired out of her mind, she didn't want to go home, to be separated from everyone that she cared about, that cared about her. As usual there was no car in the driveway, no life to be spoken of. Mother had been there just that week, distant as usual, but there all the same. Corrine stepped inside the house with resentment, angry that she wasn't worth hanging around for.

Without turning on the lights, she went to the kitchen. Beer was on her mind, a nice cold one before falling into bed, but she found something different instead. There was a note on the counter and Corrine rolled her eyes. Mother just loved leaving notes to explain why she was never home, never mind the decency of a phone call, that would make too much of a connection and who wants that?

To this day she isn't sure why but instead of the usual – balling up the note and tossing it into the trash without a thought – Corrine picked it up. Just the first line made her stomach ache. It constricted with the weight of the written word. Had it really come to this?

As she placed the note back on the counter she took in a deep, cleansing breath, ignoring the tears that were pooling mercilessly in her eyes. No pain. This had been a long time coming. She'd been expecting it. With lifeless steps she went to the fridge and pulled out the much desired beer then turned to go to her room. A numbness had fallen over her. She knew what she was going to have to do and it scared her to death. She'd thought about it plenty of times, planned so much of it and even imagined what it would be like but actually doing it was just so much to consider.

A smile broke her sadness. Why did it have to be sad? It would be a new adventure, territory unexplored. She couldn't hold on to these pains that kept her here, no matter how much she would miss everyone or how much they would miss her. They'd let go of Chris; they would let go of her too.

She trotted up the stairs and found her journal and with a click of her pen she began to write.

There was just so much to do first.

oOo

"Alright Augs," Jamie said, nudging his brother awake, "This is our stop."

Auggie took in a deep breath and struggled to regain consciousness and hold it long enough to get to the house. Damn, he wished hadn't had so much rum. Regretfully, he unfolded himself from his girlfriend, who seemed to be waking just as slowly as he was. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and reveled in the little sounds that she made.

"I'll call you tonight, maybe tomorrow we can get together?"

"Mm sounds good," she mumbled.

After climbing out of Conrad's SUV and waving uncoordinated goodbyes to the rest of the group, Auggie took Jamie's arm and followed him up to the house. For the first time in a while, he had no idea what time it was. There was nothing to give him a clue and his sleeping schedule was so screwed it could have been twelve noon for all he knew. All he could do was hope that it was late enough that his parents would already be in bed.

He dropped Jamie's arm once they were in the entryway and kicked off his Chucks. Honestly he didn't care where they ended up or if he would trip over them in two minutes, all he cared about was making it to bed before anyone tried to engage him in a conversation.

"Hey boys," his father's voice said from somewhere, Auggie didn't care enough to figure it out. "How was the concert?"

"Great," Jamie answered, for which Auggie was grateful, "I think everyone had a good time and – believe it or not – there weren't any fights. I'd like to think that this signals success. Also, Corrine didn't kill us when it was her turn to drive."

Auggie scoffed; wasn't that true.

"That's good to hear," Mica said boisterously.

That's one thing that Auggie hated about his father, the man was loud and enthusiastic. All. The. Time.

"Would you boys like some dinner, your mother and I thought we'd go out?"

"What time is it," Auggie mumbled, finding it difficult to string words together.

"It's around six in the evening," Mica answered, "The perfect time for dinner."

"Actually, I'm thinking that bed sounds like the best option right now," Auggie stated.

He took a few steps away from where he was and – as predicted – was tripped up by the shoes he'd tossed from his feet. It didn't bother him; he just kept heading for the stairs, he knew someone would move them so that the house would again be following blind kid safety protocol. Vaguely he could hear voices coming from the living room – nine-year-old Benji included – and Auggie wanted to make it to his room before anyone else spotted him.

"Dinner sounds good to me," Jamie's voice said, his voice fading into another room.

Everything sounded like it was floating, like he was out of his own body and hovering above everything else. Auggie added rum to his list of things never to drink again.

"August," Mica's voice was close, his heavy hand then landing on Auggie's shoulder just as he stepped onto the first stair. "Are you alright, you seem out of it."

"Yea," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair, nervous that his father could smell the rum on him. Sure it had been a few hours, but that stuff had a way of sticking around. "The trip just wore me out, I'm good."

"Alright," Mica said, though suspicion hung in the spaces between his words. "Listen, Lucas and his family will be getting here in the morning, I just wanted to warn you. So be extra aware."

The warning was welcome. The previous Thanksgiving had been a disaster on several levels. The first had been that Auggie was still in denial about feeling anything but normal, after all, why should he be upset about losing the sense that perceived eighty percent of the world? Next was that everyone else was extremely aware of the fact that he should have been feeling something that he 'wasn't' feeling and tried their best but failed to act normal. And last but far from least was the simple fact that no matter how hard they tried, they never failed to keep him from humiliating himself. Not to mention that was also the first time that his cane practically snapped in half and he threw a tantrum.

Ah, the memories.

"Another reason I should go to bed now."

It felt like he had just dropped into bed when he was woken my Matt. He was exhausted to the point of tears. All he wanted was to sleep for the rest of the holiday.

"Augs, Lucas is here and mom wants you downstairs," he said in that annoying 'I'm waking you up by speaking in an obnoxiously soft voice' voice.

"Ugh," he grumbled, feeling especially foggy headed.

Without further resistance he rolled out of bed and went to his closet, knowing resistance was futile. He could hear bed springs behind him as Matt sat on his bed.

"So, Jasper and I are thinking of going to the carnival this week," Matt said, "I was thinking we could get the group to go, you know? Maybe even the family. We can get some cotton candy, maybe some funnel cake, take a ride on the Ferris wheel if you know what I mean?"

The implications were clear and Auggie could just barely pull up Matt's face in his memory, waggling one eyebrow. It pissed him off how difficult it was to remember what his brother looked like and he started realizing how little he even tried to picture things anymore. He was told this would happen but he didn't think it'd be soon.

"Yea sure," he answered automatically.

Matt stopped him as he made to leave his room, this close all Auggie could smell was his cologne and a dull ache started pounding in his forehead.

"Hey, are you okay," Matt asked softly, one hand on each of Auggie's shoulders. "You seem kind of weird today."

"I'm fine, Matt," Auggie shrugged.

It was disheartening; he could barely see Matt's face in his head.

Deal with one thing and another one falls on your shoulders. This was another reason he didn't want to deal in the first place but here he was, finally taking everything in.

"I'm just tired, you know," he gave a small smile but Matt didn't release him just yet.

"Auggie, if you ever want to talk about things, don't forget about me," Matt said, his voice sincere.

Auggie's chest constricted, if only Matt understood how much had already been forgotten.

"Yea," Auggie grinned, "I'll be sure to remember that."

"That's what I'm here for," Matt said, pulling Auggie into a tight hug.

"Alright, alright," Auggie chuckled as he managed to get around his brother, "Now that you've gotten your sap all over me, let's get downstairs before mom sends up the cavalry."

"I've always liked a man on a horse," Matt laughed.

"Oh. My. God."

oOo

Annie woke up refreshed and stretched her thin limps to their breaking point, satisfied as her vertebrae popped back into place. She'd had the most wonderful dreams and after opening her eyes she laid in bed for a while thinking about them. Auggie had been there and all she could say was that shirt and shoes were most certainly not required.

It was just after eight in the morning and Annie quietly padded her way to the hall bathroom but stopped dead cold. The light was already on and she could hear someone inside. It didn't sound good. Quietly she pressed her ear to the door. It must have been Danielle or Michael because her parents would use their own bathroom. Whoever it was, they were praying to the porcelain gods.

"Hello," Annie tapped softly on the door as she pushed it open, "Are you okay in there?"

Danielle was sitting on the bathroom floor holding back her hair with a box of tissues beside her, looking utterly miserable. When she saw Annie, she blushed a deep red and covered at her mouth with a fresh Kleenex.

"Annie," she exclaimed, "What are you doing, don't you knock?"

"Sorry," she muttered, stepping inside, "Are you alright? Are you sick?"

"No, no," Danielle said with persistence, "I'm fine, I just ate something that didn't agree with me."

Annie stared at her sister for a long time. She didn't believe it. With a sigh she softened and pulled a hair-tie and hairbrush from her drawer and stood behind Danielle. Annie didn't say anything as she brushed her sister's hair out of her face and up into a messy but effective bun. There was only one other time that this happened and that was Danielle's prom night. She'd come home plastered and found herself vomiting like a champ in Annie's bathroom as her younger sister took care of her. But this time was different and Annie could tell that something was wrong.

"Are you going to tell me what's really going on with you," she asked as she sat down on the tiled floor. "Or do I have to pry it out of you?"

"Listen Annie," Danielle said seriously, "There's nothing wrong with me okay, I'm just a little bit sick."

"Are you pregnant," Annie blurted out, receiving a stunned look from her sister, "Oh god, Danielle, you are pregnant!"

Without warning, Danielle burst into tears. Annie wrapped her arms around her and pulled her in close. She'd been suspecting this, but hadn't wanted to say anything until she was sure. This proved it. Danielle's sobs shook the both of them, her tears wetting the shoulder of Annie's night shirt.

"I don't know how this happened," she cried, "We were being so careful and- and I don't know!"

"Is this why you and Michael are getting married," Annie asked softly.

"Yes," she moaned, "I knew that daddy would be angry and I thought if we got married I could somehow makes things better-"

She pulled away from Annie and looked at her desperately, her blue eyes bright with unshed tears.

"What am I going to do," she pled, "I'm not finished with school yet, I haven't even lived my dream! How am I supposed to take care of a baby? Michael doesn't even have a job yet, he's still an intern!"

"It'll all work out, Dani," Annie soothed, brushing back a strand of Danielle's hair. "Are you going to keep it?"

"Of course," Danielle exclaimed then whispered, "I love it."

She placed a hand on her stomach and a tiny smile snuck its way onto her lips.

"Are you excited," Annie all but whispered.

For a moment Danielle just stared at her, her blue eyes huge and mouth set in surprise. Annie stared back, trying to keep the smile from working its way onto her lips. Finally Dani's smile broke out and it was like a sunburst.

"Yes," she laughed, seeming to surprise herself, "I am, I'm already in love with her!"

"Her?"

"I think so!"

"What do you want to name her," Annie asked, looking at her sister in a new way. She was a new creature now, a creator.

"Katia," she smiled, "I want to name her Katia."