I'm actually managing to knock these chapters out at a steady rate, but I know better than to post anything right now. At the moment, It's June 16th, and I've got three chapters written. Not too shabby, and hopefully I can keep this up until I finish it however many odd chapters later (I never know how many chapters it'll be—I'm abysmally bad at planning ahead, remember?).

Onto the action!

$4$

Not like I need to depend upon anyone
Since I can see the lack of me to be here at all
One more anthem for the know-it-all
I won't be standin' up for long, I better learn how to crawl
Learn how to crawl

- "Flat on the Floor," by Nickelback

Despite the fact that Annie officially did not trust either man farther than she could throw them, the night actually passed by pleasantly. Auggie was pretty funny—in a dry, sarcastic kind of way. Stu made jokes about how Auggie was terrifying and a total slave driver but when they were done making fun of one another she could tell there was nothing but respect and trust between the two of them.

Kind of ironic, considering where they worked.

Annie didn't know why, precisely, she hadn't said anything to Caitlyn yet about her boyfriend's real job. She would bet her next paycheck that Auggie knew precisely who she was—probably had since this morning—and, by default, that meant Stu had to know who she was as well. Hell, the only reason why Auggie went out with Stu was probably because he knew she and Caitlyn would be there.

Except that Auggie was already acquainted with Caitlyn, and Stu seemed genuinely surprised that Annie was there—she didn't go out too much on work nights. So maybe she was getting a teensy bit ahead of herself.

But that didn't mean she was going to trust Auggie or his nice smile for a second.

He really was blind. Which sort of made sense when she was done acting like an overreacting idiot. And he was impressively charming for a blind guy—which was a borderline offensive statement she was never speaking aloud—but that might have had something to do with being blinded just a few years ago. He made some sort of offhanded comment about it that lead her to believe he had earned his wound in combat.

Which would mean he was a solider. Interesting.

Considering, the night had almost passed too well.

A couple of surprisingly entertaining hours later, Annie said her goodbyes and headed back to her bright red little VW, humming a random tune as she fished out her keys from her purse. She wasn't drunk yet, but this was the most tipsy she had been in some time. Luckily, her apartment was only down the street.

Normally, she didn't like to get drunk during the workweek, and on weekends she spent most of her time with either her sister Danielle and her kids or the occasional shopping run with Caitlyn.

Her life was a tad boring, but it was better than nothing.

And that was what she had been thinking—right up until something reached out of the darkness and covered her mouth and nose.

Annie let out a panicked noise, adrenaline and fight-or-flight kicking in immediately. She trained in the gym regularly, and went above and beyond the FBI-regulated self-defense and combat courses. She was a single woman living in D.C., and after what happened the last time, she wasn't taking any chances.

She latched on to her assailant's wrists, digging her nails into the skin not covered by his glove. Her other arm shot up and out, her elbow colliding heavily with the side of his head. Using his temporary disorientation, she moved quickly and slammed her elbow into his sternum repeatedly until he let go.

Annie stumbled back from him. She had dropped her purse in the ensuing melee, and there was the pepper spray she kept in her front pocket. Better than nothing.

She dropped down to her knees, fumbling for the cylinder, when she heard something behind her crackle. She turned around slowly, eyes wide. There wasn't one assailant—there were two. Rookie mistake, she berated herself as she scrambled and fell backwards on her ass.

He was extremely tall but skinny, and wore a black ski mask with a hoodie and jeans, but she didn't notice any of that. Her eyes were locked on the clunky taser, a sharp white-blue current of electricity jumping between the two metal prongs. Before he could move closer, she lashed out instinctively again.

But then two things happened at once. She kicked, her stiletto hitting his knee and creating a satisfactory crunch, just as a body flew out of nowhere, tackling the same assailant to the ground.

"Annie!"

She stood up shakily, stumbling only a little in her high heels. Her eyes were huge, she was breathing heavily, and the adrenaline was making her brain spin. What the hell had happened?

"Ohmigod, Annie!" Caitlyn came out of nowhere and tackle-hugged her best friend. Since Caitlyn wasn't exactly a size 2, it took what was left of Annie's energy to keep them both upright. "What happened? We were heading to our cars and then Stu thought he saw those guys attacking someone and we ran over and it was you they were attacking and then Auggie jumped that guy and oh my God, are you okay?"

Annie was truthfully too stunned too speak—also, how did Caitlyn talk that fast?

Was she okay? Well, nothing seemed to be broken or badly injured, near as she could tell—she knew from experience it would be some time before her adrenaline would die down and anything that was hurt would start to feel pain. And Auggie had helped her? Sure enough, that was him pulling her attacker her to his knees. The first one was still on the ground, groaning. Good, he ought to be in pain.

Yet again, there were so many thoughts swirling around her brain she didn't know where to begin. Auggie could fight without being able to see?

"I think you should call your boss," Stu suggested from over Caitlyn's shoulder. Annie narrowed her eyes slightly, weighing options. He was right. Even if those two had just been after her money, Joan and the rest of the department would need to know and do a threat assessment. Which meant a lovely shit ton of paperwork—and possibly some psych evals and mandatory meetings and probably the rest of the team walking on eggshells around her—to look forward to for the next two weeks.

Fuck.

"Yeah, Director Campbell would know what to do," Caitlyn said, looking back at him lovingly. Caitlyn was in the tech division, so she had nearly no direct contact with Joan, but simultaneously feared and respected her just as much as everyone else in the department. "I'll go call her now." She pulled away slightly from Annie and gave her an once-over. "Are you going to be okay for five minutes? I just need to call Director Campbell and tell her what happened."

Annie smiled and nodded, still unable to talk. As Caitlyn skittered away, she looked back at Auggie. He and Stu were busy tying up her attackers and she took a shocking moment to appreciate the muscles peeking out of the sleeves of his t-shirt. Did she have a concussion?

Reality was setting in again and she was reminded of the big picture. The Feds would be coming as soon as Caitlyn got off the phone with Joan, and she wondered if Stu and Auggie would stick around. Stu would probably have to—otherwise he'd have some awkward questions to answer from Caitlyn—but she wouldn't be surprised if Auggie decided to slip away. What she needed to do was report them both to Joan as CIA first thing tomorrow morning.

"I know you both are CIA," she announced, startling both herself and the two of them. She had no clue where this was coming from. "And if you're smart I wouldn't say anything once the FBI comes around, unless you want to be brought in for questioning."

As they stared at her in unrestrained astonishment—and was that a little amusement on Auggie's face?—she tamped down the burble of anxiety that was growing in her chest.

Because, seriously, what the hell was wrong with her today?

$4$

I know this is pretty weird for you guys—particularly the whole-Annie's-not-being-badass-enough thing that's even bothering me, but like always, good things come in time—but we're finally getting into the thick of things. Annie's kicking a little ass, Auggie's helping out, and Stu's being a nice guy… oh, and Annie's just outed them as spooks. Yeah, let's see how well that goes over. ;)

So be brutally honest. What do you think so far?