I figured I might as well post this a little earlier that usual. You guys earned it.

After so much background information, plot building, and various other mental mayhem, I think we all deserve a little extra gratification. :D

$4$

You make me feel like I wanna be a dumb blonde
In a centerfold, the girl next door
And I would open the door and I'd be all wet
With my tits soaking through this tiny little t-shirt
That I'm wearing and you would open the door
And tie me up to the bed

- "Feelin' Love," by Paula Cole (Sexiest. Song. Ever.)

Like the night before, the rest of their time at Allen's passed by without a hitch. They didn't discuss that weird kiss at the beginning of the night, but they did talk about almost everything else. Her sister, Danielle; his four older brothers and baby sister; his time in the Army and Special Forces; her time as an Army brat; the bomb in Tikrit that took his sight; the crazy places she visited backpacking all around the world.

When they wandered back to her car, it was almost too natural—if a little embarrassing—to ask him if he wanted to go to her apartment. She felt slightly gratified when he grinned and said yes.

She didn't know what she was expecting. That was what she told herself on the ride back to her apartment, as they continued to talk comfortably during the ten minute drive. In fact, she had completely deluded herself of this—until Auggie cupped the side of her face, leaned down, and kissed her.

Annie's eyebrows shot up. His kiss was gentle, no pressure. If she wanted to pull away at any point he would let her. But she didn't want to pull away. With more force than probably necessary, she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, pulled him closer and fumbled the apartment door open.

They stumbled into her apartment, Annie tossing her purse and keys on the small table and kicking the door shut. Auggie knew how to kiss, as illustrated by the way he took effortless control, diving his hand in her hair and knocking her clip to the floor with a clatter. His free hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against him. She inhaled sharply when he licked her bottom lip, asking for permission.

She pushed his jacket off his shoulders, trying to keep up with him as he thoroughly explored the inside of her mouth. He did the same, and she dumped their jackets into a pile by their feet. The hand around her waist was tracing careful patterns at the small of her back, sending little jolts of pleasure to shoot from head to toe.

She let out an appreciative hum in the back of her throat as she nudged him further down the hallway divesting him of his soft grey grandpa sweater—and made a mental note to tease him about the grandpa sweater later. He seemed content enough to let her lead him into her apartment, licking the roof of her mouth and making her gasp.

They were so wrapped up in each other she didn't notice that they took the turn into her living room until his shoulder clipped the wall and they nearly tripped over her table and lamp. They broke the kiss with a laugh and Auggie quipped, "The blind leading the blind, huh?"

Annie laughed louder and carefully maneuvered him around her coffee table. When he tried to continue their actions, she ducked him, pressing openmouthed kisses along the long, strong line of his neck. He groaned and she laughed throatily in his ear, nipping the skin just under his jaw and leaving a slight mark.

He pushed her up against the nearest wall, and she smirked into his skin as he tugged and successfully pulled her turtleneck free from her skirt. She reciprocated, unbuttoning his shirt as quickly as her trembling fingers would allow. She jumped when his hot hands slid up her back, and pinched his side when he chuckled at her reaction.

She didn't miss the way he paused when his questing fingers stumbled over that patch of raised tissue imbedded in the nip of her waist, but she ignored the different kind of warmth that settled in her chest at the small reaction. Instead, she opted for licking that spot under his ear that made him shudder and forget all about her scar.

She shoved his shirt off his shoulders, letting him pull her away from his throat and kiss her urgently. He was in impressively good shape as she walked her fingertips up the ridges of muscle that made his stomach, abs, sides, cataloguing as much as she could as quickly as possible. He told her about his time as a soldier, and she was impressed and appreciative that he was maintaining what had to be a killer workout routine.

When her fingernail scraped the side of his bellybutton, he growled low and forgot his quest to divest her of her shirt, sliding his hands past her ass and smoothly picking her up and pinning her neatly between him and the wall.

She grinned widely at his actions, wrapping her arms and legs more securely around his body. She stopped when she caught sight of the mark on his back that stretched from shoulder blade to shoulder blade. Laughing breathlessly, she asked, "You have a tattoo?"

He laughed along with her. "I told you I was in Special Forces," he replied, and it took all she had not to shiver at the delicious, gravelly tone.

"Special Forces does not always equal tattoos, last I'd checked," she drawled, tracing what could see of his tattoo with her fingernail.

"What? You don't like it?" Auggie asked teasingly, leaning over and pressing a kiss right underneath her ear.

Annie chuckled throatily in his own ear in response, and replied, "Oh, I don't think I need to inflate your ego any further than I already have, manwhore."

His hand slipped up her sweater once more as his lips and teeth continued to do blissful things to her mouth and neck. "I told you that wasn't nice, Annie," he said, giving her side a heady squeeze.

As he continued to kiss his way down her throat, the phone rang. He paused for a second, at which point Annie hastily shook her head. "Ignore it," she mumbled, half-whimpering as he found a particularly sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. "It's my sister, Dani. She left a couple messages yesterday and I forgot to call her back."

His tongue traced her collarbone and for a second she forgot how to breathe. "You don't happen to have a bed around here, do you?" he asked, nuzzling her neck affectionately, as his fingers wandered up her sides, lighting a fire under her skin as he stopped traversing right before her bra started. "Unless you wanna keep this here. That works. I'm flexible."

The implication made her body tingle appreciatively, but she managed a laugh, twisting her neck and kissing the side of his face. "Oh, I'm sure you—"

"Annie? Annie, it's me. Are you there?"

Her whole body froze. Auggie stopped laughing abruptly, pulling back to stare unseeingly first in the direction of the answering machine by the TV and the back at her face. "Annie, what—?" he cut off, cupping the side of her face with his free hand.

"This is the third time I'm calling. Annie, I know you hate me. But you have to talk to me."

How did he get her phone number? The second she got back from the hospital, she changed her home phone number, got a new cell phone.

"This is important, Annie. The men—the men that tried to hurt you. They're planning something big. Three days ago I found extremely important information that I could use to take them down—but then they killed Taya. He wasn't working for them, he was—"

Distantly, she realized Auggie was setting her back on the ground but she was staring too intently at the answering machine to notice.

"Listen, it doesn't matter. I have the proof I need to catch the Armenians, I just need to get it to the right people. There's this guy I used to work with—he used to be my handler of sorts. I think I can still trust him. Once I give him the information, the CIA can go through and take down Seropian—he's the leader of the—it doesn't matter. I don't want to put you in any further danger. Listen, I…"

There was a heavy crackle, the sound of him sighing severely over the phone.

"I still love you, Annie. I want you to be safe. Please call me back."

The answering machine went dead. The air in the room was thick with tension, a completely different tension than had been there moments before.

"Ben."

That wasn't a question. It was a statement. There was no use arguing or lying to Auggie.

"Yes," Annie said softly, pursing her bruised lips. "Listen, Auggie—"

"Don't worry about it," he hastened to assure her, taking a step back. "I understand. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it."

"No, you don't have to," she assured him. He kept backing away from her, and finally she latched onto his forearm tightly. "Auggie. Listen to me. Please."

He finally stopped moving, hanging his head almost imperceptibly with a heavy sigh. Other than that miniscule giveaway, his face was perfectly inscrutable. He must've been a damned good CIA agent, once upon a time.

She took his silence as a cue to go on, so she took a deep breath and began. "After… everything that happened two years ago, I resolved to move on. Pick up my life and go on as usual. But I didn't. I spent all my time holed up in the bullpen, punishing myself for ever going out in the field and causing this clusterfuck in the first place. I've been doing that for the last two years. When I say it has been fun…" she trailed off, giving her head definitive shake. "These last two days have been a giant mess. I was attacked yesterday, forced to tell my boss and some fellow Feds and a CIA agent about said clusterfuck, and then today I hooked up with the same CIA agent."

"I honestly don't know where my head is anymore, but I figured out one thing in the last 24 hours. I can't keep doing the same things I've done for the last two years. You can still totally leave—I won't blame you in the slightest. If I was in your shoes, I'd totally be running for the door, so no judging. But I do want you to know that if you leave, afterwards I'm not going to immediately call Ben back, or cry to myself or whatever. First thing tomorrow morning I'm heading straight to Joan with the answering machine tape. Ben doesn't deserve my secrecy."

She let go of his arm, letting out a soft little sigh. She glanced back at the answering machine one last time, her eyebrows knitting at the sight of that tiny, blinking red light.

"Damn. And I really thought I was getting laid tonight."

Annie let out an involuntary burble of laughter at his too-casual statement. "And who said I was that easy?" she teased him; truth be told, she thought she was getting laid tonight, too.

His only response was a wolfish smile, one that made that heat flare up in her belly once more. "You wouldn't happen to have a TV around here, would you?"

She smiled and gently nudged him around, leading him to her couch. "I do happen to have a TV. Flat screen. 50-inch. Though I can't imagine what use you would have for it."

"Hey, there's dialogue in TV shows. What, you discriminating against me because I'm blind? Sightist." When he flopped down on the couch she noticed he had never put his shirt back on, and considered pointing that out. For a second.

She kept her mouth shut and joined him on the couch, snuggling into his side. He wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders. This was such weird behavior, even for her, but it seemed too natural to stop. "You may not want to hear this, but you're not the only one with some crazy ass skeletons in your closet," he told her, burying his nose in the crown of her hair.

Annie tipped her head up slightly, wondering where he was going with this.

"Let me tell you about a woman named Natasha Petrovna…"

$4$

This was smut for smut's sake… and then the plot by the end. Because I couldn't just do a sexy scene and not at least ease my writing conscience a tad by evening it out.

I don't know if any of you noticed the line in Chapter 5 about Annie's answering machine messages… I guess they weren't all from Danielle. ;) With me, any insignificant detail can be twisted into an important plot focal point.