"Do you understand?" Joan met Annie's eyes and then tried to look Tom in the face. He was sweating so much she was mildly concerned he might have some kind of condition.

"We're to make contact, make the exchange, and big back the package. No problems." Annie smiled and clapped Tom on the back making him jump.

"Mr Daniel... don't make me regret this..." Joan said carefully.

"No ma-am." Tom straightened his back and coughed into his hand. "Um, just one thing... I mean... I have to ask..."

"Why I'm sending an analyst into the field when he's never shown any interest in doing anything outside the office?" Joan asked with a raised eyebrow. "Annie could use another pair of hands on this one and besides, you showed at least a small amount of initiative today..."

"Right... right." Tom swallowed hard and left, clutching the file she'd handed him to his chest.

"OK, why are we really torturing this guy?" Annie asked once they were alone. "I mean, the job's a hand-off, in Arizona. It's glorified U.P.S. What do I need an extra pair of hands for?"

Joan didn't look up, she just tidied the files on her desk. "He needs to be broken in, and you might need someone to keep you, focused..."

Annie raised an eyebrow, "are you saying you don't trust me?"

Joan looked up at her seriously, "I'm saying I want you to do well here... I want the best for you," she sighed and handed Annie another very thin file. "You're contact in Arizona."

Annie looked at the file and had to suppress a double take. "Couldn't someone else...?"

"No, for two reasons. One, this is high priority and you're still my best."

"And two?" Annie interrupted.

"And two, you need to finish this, and not just for you..." Joan put a hand on Annie's shoulder for a moment. "I wont say anything, play it however you want, but when you get back here I suggest you have it sorted out."

"I... I will..." Annie stammered, then as Joan moved back behind her desk she looked up. "Thank you."

"Leaving straight away?" Auggie asked.

"Yeah," Annie said with a false smile, "I should be back inside of 48 hours. Just fly out, wait for the contact, collect the package and fly back."

"She's really throwing Daniels in the deep end huh?"

"Come on, you think he'd survive anything more his first run out? I don't know what she's doing to the the poor guy. I mean, he never asked for field work." Annie sat on the edge of Auggie's desk and he playfully tapped out a beat on her shoe.

"Think Joan would blow a gasket if you kiss me once before you light outta here?" He was grinning up at her impishly.

Annie hunched forward so she could mock whisper in his ear "you do know that your office is made of window's right?"

He blinked, "wait, really? This whole time?"

She laughed and hit his shoulder. "I'm going to have to leave in about ten minutes to make the flight... you'll be on the line until I get back?"

"Always." He frowned and caught her hand as she stood. "Walker? You OK? You sound... off."

She looked down at his face for a long, quiet moment, and he allowed her time to frame her reply without pushing. "It's been a few days now..." She said quietly. "We're coming up to that moment where the other shoe drops and this, this soft focus, daydream perfection is going to fall away and we'll get mugged by reality. I don't want to get mugged by reality yet, I don't want bitchy arguments over closet space or how much one or the other of us works. I just want this, I want honeymoon period, forever." She was slightly breathless by the time she'd finished and her words had that frantic run-on quality of mild hysterics barely controlled.

"Hey..." Auggie brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently, with his back turned discretely to the windows. "I will take, whatever closet space you give me, and you can have all of mine if you want it. I know you love your job, I love mine to, so I'll work when you work and we'll be perfectly fine. I am in this, with you, the job, the life, all of it." He still held her hand and was looking slightly off to her left, searching the darkness for her. "You were fine ten minutes ago... did something happen in the meeting? Did Joan say something?"

"No, no nothing like that." She smiled, and this time it reached her voice and Auggie relaxed somewhat. "Weirdly, I think she was giving me her blessing, in a 'don't hurt my baby, mamma bear' kinda way."

"And before I think too much about all the ways in which that is disturbing, I will steal one last kiss and you had better go." He stood and snuck a peck to her cheek quickly. "Call me when you land, or I'll sit in a corner and cry."

"Really?"

"Course not, I'll track your phone."

"Gees, look at them." Don watched as Annie and Auggie shared their somewhat less than private moment. "They're like randy school kids, How the hell did they last this long?"

"Don't be sore, just because it wasn't your day." Amber grinned.

"I still say you messed with the calendar."

"I think it's sweet. And the babies will be seriously hot, and smart... God they'll have super spy hacker babies." She swivelled on her chair and looked at Tom, who was still sweating. "Jesus, Tom, you have got to calm down."

"How did you even get in here when the mention of field work gives you palpitations?" Don asked.

"I'm ah... good with puzzles. Patterns. You know, codes and stuff... I ah... I scraped through my physical stuff, I think they might have let me squeak through on a couple of things actually..." He wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand. "God, why is this happening?"

"Hey, if you have a proper heart attack, maybe Joan will send me instead?"

"I doubt it," Amber shook her head. "If her rep is anything to go by she'll just wire him up so he still looks alive and send him anyway."

The trip down to the car was made in silence. Tom climbed in without a word, and hugged his briefcase to his chest. After fifteen minutes, Annie couldn't stand it any more. "So, why C.I.A?"

"Best toys." Tom muttered without looking up from his lap.

Annie laughed, "Auggie says the same thing. Tom, chill. This is going to be a walk in the park OK? I promise I wont let anything happen to you."

"You've been shot at... right?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not normal, I mean..."

"If you read your file it looks like it's normal. You get shot at a lot." He pointed out.

"Well, yes, OK, but not in Arizona."

"Right here in D.C." He interrupted her. "I read all the files."

"You're gonna be a real barrel of laughs aren't ya?" She ribbed good naturedly. "Look, just stay close to me, don't drink too much coffee, and we'll be back in two days, max."

"How do you know that?" Tom asked, glancing sideways at her.

"Because I have plans for the weekend, and I'm not postponing them."

"With August Anderson?" He asked.

Annie laughed. "It sounds so weird to me hearing someone call him 'August', but yes. Why? Are we office gossip already?"

"What already? You've been office gossip since before I got here."