Annie's taxicab pulled up in the alleyway behind the safe house. She thanked her driver in Russian and slipped in the back door of the building only after the cabbie had gone around the corner. She walked gingerly up the stairs with her suitcase in hand. Annie reached the top floor of the building and walked down the hallway to the apartment directed in her mission instructions. The lock jammed for a moment and she had to fiddle with the doorknob before she got in.

The apartment was as she expected. The walls were standard white and the air was stale from a lack of circulation. The curtains were yellowed and drawn, giving the room a pale gold glow in the late afternoon sun. A worn wooden table and chairs near the kitchen looked as if it had been in use for a decade or two and a table on the far wall was covered in dated computer equipment. In another corner of the room two mattresses were stacked on top of each other to serve as a bed. Crisp white linens covered the low resting place and one long body pillow was propped against the wall. The sand colored carpet gave under Annie's feet and allowed her to pad silently into the room. Annie shut and locked the door behind her and set her suitcase by a table covered in computer paraphernalia. She took in the room and decided to use the bathroom.

'Auggie should have been here by now,' Annie thought as she walked down a narrow hallway towards the restroom. 'I haven't been contacted about a delay in his travel plans. What's going on?' she thought to herself. The bathroom door stood ajar and the faucet was dripping as if it hadn't been turned off completely. From her vantage point she could see a bathmat on the floor was slightly askew. The hair on the back of Annie's neck prickled. Something was wrong.

She turned quietly on her heel and made to move towards the main room. A closet caught the corner of her eye. She paused and held her breath. The faintest noise sounded on the other side of the door. Annie quietly backed up against the wall and braced herself for what she was sure to be enemy impact. She reached for the door and flung it open. A tall man leapt out and tackled her to the ground.

This was no enemy. His messy hair and sweater vest instantly let her know it was her partner. He grunted in her ear as she struggled against him and pinned her wrists above her head in one deft move.

"Auggie!" Annie choked out. Auggie's breath hitched in her ear.

"Annie?" His voice seemed higher than normal and strained.

"Yes, who did you think it was?" she said exasperatedly.

"The doorknob jiggled like someone was trying to pick the lock and there were no grapefruit!" his words were tangled together. Annie's brain only comprehended the last part of the sentence. She stopped trying to get out from under him and stared at him incredulously.

"Grapefruit, Auggie?"

"Your perfume! It's grapefruit with lime top notes and sometimes there's a hint of rosemary-based soap on your skin! And it usually washes over a room when you walk into it and I couldn't smell anything but mothballs and mildew and—" he couldn't catch his breath. He slid off of her and laid on his back staring into oblivion. "I-I ran to hide in the closet because you weren't here yet and I didn't, I didn't want—" Annie interrupted.

"Auggie! Hey, Auggie," Annie rolled over onto her hip and placed a hand on Auggie's chest. "It's alright,"

"No, it's not alright," he said slowly, his brow furrowed.

"Auggie, come on. I snuck up on you. I should have announced myself. Or smelled like normal," Annie couldn't help but chuckle at the end. Auggie's lips twitched.

"Yes, how inconsiderate of you to smell differently than you normally do. Really, Annie, how rude." he said sarcastically.

"I don't wear perfume when I travel," she explained with a grin. "I read in a magazine once that it can irritate sensitive passengers on the plane,"

"That's considerate of you," Auggie half smiled, still staring at the ceiling. His brow was still knit with worry and something else Annie couldn't put her finger on. He was behaving so differently from anytime she had seen him before. His shoulders were tense and his jaw seemed to be clenched the slightest bit.

"Here, let me help you," Annie stood and put her hand in Auggie's. She pulled him from the ground.

"Thanks," he said, his left palm resting on the hallway wall. "Do you think you could check the bathroom for my laser cane? I dropped it when I heard the door, " he said, a shade of embarrassment coloring his words.

"Sure," Annie said brightly, trying to make Auggie feel more comfortable. He didn't turn to smile at her, but gingerly felt his way to the main room, his palms resting on the wall to guide him. Annie turned and went into the bathroom, picking his cane from its resting position near the tub, and then followed Auggie.

'He deconstructed the scent of my perfume. Lime top notes? And rosemary soap?' she thought of the small travel sized bar of rosemary soap in her luggage. 'Auggie has one hell of a sense of smell,' Annie thought to herself.

Auggie had found his way to the computer table and had started the system of machines up. The screens flickered to life as he moved his hands around the desk, feeling out where everything was.

"Annie, could you get my Braille keyboard from my suitcase please?" Auggie asked. She noticed a suitcase on the other side of the front door she had overlooked and unzipped it. The keyboard was lying on top of neatly folded clothes. Annie noticed a small stack of boxer briefs in several colors. She blushed and looked away. Annie plugged in the keyboard for Auggie and watched as he sat down and started to get things running. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he worked.

"And now," he said with a few more taps, "everything should be set up. Excellent," he pushed his chair back from where he was sitting and stood up again. His voice was light again, laughing almost like it usually was, but there was something strained below the surface. Annie frowned. This wasn't normal Auggie.

"I'm hungry," he said suddenly, feeling the tension in the air. "What do you think the CIA put in here for us to eat?"

Annie turned her attention from Auggie's disposition and moved into the kitchen, opening the first cupboard near the refrigerator. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. The bottom three shelves were packed tightly with macaroni and cheese.

"Auggie," she giggled. "There are tons of boxes of Macaroni and Cheese in here," Auggie smiled genuinely for a moment, remembering his conversation with Joan.

"Would you mind making some?" he asked.

"Not at all. I'm starved too." Auggie turned and headed over towards the bed. Annie filled a pot she located with water and set it on the stove and began preparations for their dinner. She paused for a moment to look at her partner. He had slumped against the wall and his unseeing eyes were fixed on the ceiling. Annie bit her lip. What she wouldn't give to know what was going on his head and how she could make things right again.

AN: It's a little short, I'm sorry! It was my birthday yesterday and I haven't had time to write!