Amber fiddled absently with a lock of her hair and tried desperately to be interested in the report open in front of her on her desk. This wasn't what she thought the CIA was going to be like. Suddenly Don, whose desk was across the aisle from her, gasped and scooted sideways into her and grabbed her arm.

"Look!" he hissed.

"Wha..?" Amber looked up and clamped her mouth shut.

Auggie Anderson and Annie Walker had just walked in. It hadn't escaped office notice that they'd taken three days leave at the same time. The office pool on how long it was going to take them to get together had gone nuts.

"Who had today? Who had today? Come on check, was it me?" Don started rifling through her desk draw looking for the little calendar with the bets noted on it.

"You don't know they're together," Amber shook her head.

"Look how close together they're walking."

"They always do that..."

Don snorted. "Come on, LOOK at them, they're totally doin' it." He leaned back and poked the small, mousy-looking man at the desk behind Amber with the end of his pen. "Thomas, hey, Thomas, take that report in to Joan."

"What? N... no. She didn't need it for another four hours, and she's busy." He stammered.

"Get up and go hand the stupid thing in! We want to know what's on that paperwork Annie's carrying." Don continued to poke Thomas with his pen until the littler man was sweating nervously. "Go on! Go, go go."

"Alright, alright!" Thomas hissed, standing and straightening his black tie. Trembling violently and with a cold sweat still standing on his brow he made his way to Joan's office and knocked.

"Come in."

Auggie and Annie were still smiling, and Joan looked pleased until her eyes fell on Thomas, then her face returned to its usual impassive expression. Annie noticed the sweat and the trembling and gave the nervous rookie an encouraging nod.

"Ah... the report you wanted... I ah... I finished it early." He hurried over and held it out to her, his eyes flitting frantically over her desk trying to see what was written on the paperwork... Close and Continuing Relationship was printed neatly across the top, and August Anderson's name written in Annie's delicate handwriting.

Joan was looking at him speculatively, and it made his skin crawl. After a fe moments the corner of her mouth quirked up in a knowing smile. "There's an op-meeting in half an hour, I'd like you there."

Thomas made a choking sound and Auggie sniggered into his hand, his eyes shining with mirth. "M... me?"

"Yes, Agent Daniel, you." She put the report in her in tray, then picked up the forms Annie hand handed her and put them on top of it. "You came in here, when the others wouldn't. You'll be backing Annie up tomorrow. It'll all be covered in the meeting. Annie," Joan gave her an arch look, "keep an eye on him will you?"

"Of course."

Everyone stood there silently for several seconds while Thomas fiddled nervously with the cuff of his jacket until, at last, Joan raised an eyebrow at him. "Dismissed." She said cally, and shook her head in exasperation as he fled. "Unbelievable."

"He'll be fine, I'll keep an eye on him." Annie smiled.

"Well, if you ladies will excuse me, I should finish the tech-prep for the meeting." Auggie flashed a grin and gave Annie's arm one final squeeze before leaving. She watched him go with a loving smile and when she turned back, Joan's face was serious.

"You don't approve?" Annie asked, suddenly uncertain.

"It's not that Annie," Joan said quietly, shaking her head. "It's not that." She finally managed to smile, "I was... worried, that you'd miss each other."

Annie regarded her carefully for a moment. "You knew, didn't you? 'Everything you need is right here'... you were right." She turned to leave.

"Annie. Keep the PDA to a minimum in the office."

Outside in the bullpen, Thomas walked back to his desk in a daze, his eyes unfocused. Don and Amber watching him avidly while he sat, and started fiddling absently with things on his desk. "Well? What was it?" Don demanded.

"Close and Continuing..." Thomas mumbled.

"YES! Oh yes, I knew it, Pay up!" Don held his hand out to Amber, but she was looking at Thomas with a worried expression.

"Are you OK, Tom?"

He looked up at her with wide, terrified eyes. "I'm going out in the field..." he whispered.

Annie stood in the doorway and watched Auggie fondly as he tapped away at his computer, his fingers moving confidently over the keys. She smiled as the tactile memory of his hands filled her mind.

"I can feel your eyes, Walker." He was grinning as he tilted his head to the side and his eyes settled somewhere to her left.

"Joan wants us to 'keep the PDA to a minimum', so it's probably just as well..." she quite deliberately swept her eyes over his face and down his neck.

"Walker, are you being dirty and suggestive where I can't see?"

"Maybe." She laughed, "we can talk about it later."

Auggie chuckled as she turned and left.