Author's Note: Disclaimer-I do not own Covert Affairs or its characters.

Chapter 10

"Communication Bridges"

Before leaving the bed after Annie's nap, they both seemed to come to the same conclusion as sitting there together. They COULD make sign language work for them. They weren't sure yet all the details and if it would be a permanent solution, but they didn't have to only use their phones to communicate with each other. They had a way of communicating just through touch and their hands. There would not be any real conversation about it just yet and Auggie didn't dare plan to mention it to Danielle or Joan. He felt it was a private thing between them for now.

Danielle and the girls arrived around 6:45 that night with dinner and a movie for the girls to watch. As they ate dinner, Annie watched as everyone conversated around her. The longer the conversation lasted, the deeper Auggie's frown became. She knew he wasn't talking much, she was watching him as she always did. But the girls and Danielle never seemed to stop talking, but they never directed the conversation towards her. Annie and Auggie sat with their hands together much of the dinner, neither of them wanting to relinquish contact with the other.

Annie's nieces were full of questions about Annie's condition. Of course, they tried raising their voices and yelling at her when they first found out that she couldn't hear them. When Annie still didn't answer whatever burning question they had for her, they would run off and ask either Danielle or Auggie, leaving Annie just sitting on the couch.

As Danielle had been putting the finishing touches on dinner, the girls had begun twenty questions with Auggie. They asked everything from will she have to learn Braille like he did?, would she get hearing aids?, would she have to quit her job at the Smithsonian?, how did she hear her alarm in the morning?, can she still hear music?, and so forth. He answered all of their questions to the best of his ability, but he hated that Annie was completely left out of this process. He sat next to her on the couch and answered each of their questions as they bounced around their apartment.

During the dinner conversation, the girls were more interested in talking about whatever was going on at school. Katia told about a little girl who came into her classroom for a few hours a day that was Autistic. She told them that the little girl was in special classes too, which was why she wasn't in her classroom all day. She wanted to know if Annie would have to take special classes too. Auggie simply answered they weren't sure yet, despite the fact that he was pretty sure she would be taking sign language classes.

After dinner the girls sat on the couch to watch the Disney movie they had brought to watch. Auggie immediately went to work setting up the movie to play both closed captions for Annie as well as descriptive audio for himself. He didn't think either Annie or himself would actually be paying any attention to the movie, but he wanted to make it a point to show that he and Annie could be included in their movie watching experience. He didn't know if they would be annoyed by the voice constantly speaking descriptions throughout the movie or the streaming captions at the bottom displaying what was spoken, but at that moment he didn't care.

Neither of the girls complained or said anything about the audio or caption variations as they watched the movie. It didn't seem to faze them as they sang along to the obvious familiar songs and script of the movie.

As the girls watched the movie, Annie and Auggie worked together, to Danielle's disapproval, to clean the kitchen. Together as always, they completed the task in no time. Auggie listened carefully to Annie for signs that she was getting tired, but none came. They cleaned the stove off, washed and dried the dishes, and sanitized the counters and table. As they worked, Auggie was never more than an arm's length from Annie.

At one point while they were doing the dishes, they became a bit playful as Annie picked up a handful of bubbles from atop the dishwater and quickly plopped it on Auggie's nose before he realized she had removed them from the sink. Auggie stood stunned for a moment completely unsure how to respond. Typically he would respond by retaliating to such an action, but with Danielle and the girls there, he wasn't going to go about tossing bubbles around the kitchen. The next sound he heard was the most beautiful sound he had heard in years-Annie laugher. It had been so long since he'd heard it. It was exactly as it had always been. Annie voice, in the rare times he had heard it since she returned from Africa was hesitant and unconfident, but her laugher was as pure and joyous as it had always been. He smiled and extended an arm toward her, as she took it, he brought her into a hug and then kissed her, making sure their noses touched so he could share the bubbling substance with her.

After all the cleaning was finished, Auggie and Annie joined Danielle and the girls on the couch to watch or listen to the movie. Annie wasn't sure she liked reading throughout the movie, but she knew she would have to get used to it. It wasn't that she was opposed to reading subtitles during a movie; she'd done it all the time when she was younger and was watching foreign films. This had helped her learn words that might not have been in a textbook as she was learning one language or another throughout her life, but the idea that from now on every movie she watched had to be captioned annoyed her. Not having the choice to just listen to a movie, to just have it on in the background as she did other things. It all saddened her, which then frustrated her because all these emotions were coming about because of a children's movie.

Auggie was completely confused by the time they sat down to watch the movie. He had not watched many kid movies as an adult and he found it hard to understand why a snowman was singing and dancing or how the rocks turned out to be trolls. He stopped asking questions when Chloe seemed to be annoyed by his question about why the reindeer didn't talk, but the snowman could.

As Danielle and the girls left after the movie ended, Auggie went and saw them out. After locking up, Auggie wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed. He stopped mid step and suddenly had a thought about where he should sleep. He knew that while she'd been in the hospital Annie had wanted him close to her, but now that they were home, would she want to still share their bed. He didn't want to push her into even sleeping next to him before she was ready. He knew that when he first went blind he had felt unworthy of any woman's attention. Of course, it was different for Annie, already having a significant other who was with her no matter what, but he was still unsure.

Annie seemed to sense this hesitation and took the confusion right out of the equation for him. She walked over to him and took his hand, pulling him gently towards the bedroom with her. Once they were both in the bedroom they went about their usual preparations for bed. Annie stumbled twice in the bathroom, but hoped Auggie didn't hear her. When they were both ready for a good night's rest, Auggie wrapped his arms tightly around Annie as she cuddled next to him. Neither of them needed words to know that this was what they both needed.

Annie decided the next day that she wanted to go to the School for the Deaf to at the very least get information from them. Auggie enthusiastically agreed to go with her and made the preparations for them to go the following week. He seemed just as interested in learning how they might use sign language to communicate as she was.

Their appointment was to be the next day and while they had gotten a routine planned for themselves, it seemed they were never really alone to make sure it could work for them. During the last week they had had very little alone time together. If Danielle and the girls weren't there, then Barber, Hollman, or Joan was there. Both Annie and Auggie were grateful for their friends support, but they were each feeling a bit smothered and just wanted things to go back to, well, a relatively normal state.

Joan and Danielle each helped make sure Annie got to all of her appointments, which Auggie accompanied her to, even if he was just going to wait for her. They had each wanted to join them on their trip to the School for the Deaf, but Auggie had firmly declined their offer of help after a long discussion, via text, the night before with Annie about it.

Auggie prepared for the trip by doing what he did best. Creating a piece of tech Annie would use throughout the trip. He'd been reluctant to bring in even more technology between them, but in this case, they would need the help in such a public place. The device looked like a basic PDA, but would type out anything spoken around Annie within a three foot radius with turned on. The device could even distinguish between different voices and would indicate who had spoken as it typed. Eventually he would make it to where the device could save voices so it could tell her specifically who had spoken as well as what they said.

Annie was thrilled with the PDA when Auggie showed it to her. They spent the next thirty minutes testing it out from different ranges in the apartment. He showed her how to change the settings and how to turn in on and off. She could use the device as a notepad to respond to other people if she chose not to voice her answers as well. When it was time to head to the school, Auggie fell back on his usual method for getting around and called a car service.

As they arrived at the school, Annie was amazed at how many people were around. She was mostly disappointed to see that everyone she saw learning seemed to be children. She had looked over the videos and books that her speech therapist had given her about sign language and had already picked up a few basic signs. She was quite intrigued to discover that there were different types of sign language. She had been assuming it would be like Braille had been for Auggie, learning a sign or symbol for a given word in the English language or letter of the alphabet. And while this was the case, that there are gestures for English words-she discovered that there was a lot more to it than that. She was amazed to find out that different version of sign language might say things differently-that there was varying grammatical structure to the various sign languages. The more she learned, the more eager she became to learn more. She found herself growing excited about the prospect of learning a new language.

But now that she was there, seeing that all of the students were children discouraged her. She didn't want to be treated like a child here or anywhere else. As they waited for the headmaster of the school, after being welcomed by the secretary, Ms. Hillson, she wanted to talk to Auggie and get his opinion of the place.

Getting her phone out she typed to him: "What do you think?"

After listening to the text through his Bluetooth he texted back. "I'm not sure. It's not like I can exactly see what's going on. It's really quiet here."

"Wow, really? Why would it be quiet? There are tons of children in the classrooms we've passed; I'd say at least 10-15 in each room."

"Annie, they don't need to talk, they communicate through the gestures and facial expressions of the language we're here to learn more about." He explained as he'd been doing his own research on sign language.

"I guess I didn't think of it that way." She texted back.

Before the conversation could continue, the headmistress, Mrs. Stapleton came into the office. Auggie felt a little awkward, knowing she was signing in front of him. He had placed his cane beside him when they sat down in her office and now he wasn't sure if it had been seen. To Auggie's relief, she spoke as she signed.

Annie was initially so mesmerized by the flow and rhythm of following the headmistress' hands as she spoke to them that she forgot to turn on the PDA so that she could actually know what was being said.

Remembering to turn it on, she caught part of the conversation.

"…get you started right away on learning the basics. We've looked over the information that the hospital sent us about your case and I'll admit it will be a challenge to teach you, Auggie, was it? But it can be done. You will have to learn signs by touch or verbal instructions unless you have some vision that can help you see someone signing in front of you."

"No, I don't have any sight that could help us with that." Auggie answered.

"It is a much slower process than learning through sight, but we have ways of teaching you nonetheless. As to how you and Annie will communicate, that is for you to decide. Obviously Auggie cannot see your signs across a room, Annie, but if you are close to each other, you can sign into his hands. I understand you've decided to stop speaking, Annie. That fact will also complicate things for you two. If you are across the room from him and he wants to sign to you, you'll have to have some way of always letting him know whether you can see him or not, otherwise he won't know you're not seeing what he signs. It will all be in how you guys work it between the two of you." As Auggie listened he was relieved that she at least was prepared for his blindness and wasn't as shocked by it as he'd thought they might have been.

"I learned the manual alphabet in Scouts years ago, I think I remember most of it. I've done a bit of my own research and I know that there's a different sign language for people who are deaf and blind, should we look into that as well?" Auggie asked.

"I'm impressed with your knowledge Auggie. You could learn that if you feel it will work for both of you, but for Annie it will be best if she learns American Sign Language, or ASL as most people call it. That way she can communicate with other deaf people. Given your circumstances, it's completely understandable if you can't learn ASL yourself."

After saying this the headmistress paused for several minutes. In fact the timespan lasted so long that Auggie wasn't sure if she was still there or not.

When she spoke again, she spoke from Annie's right. "How are you feeling about everything we've discussed Annie?"

Auggie listened to Annie typing wondering what she might be saying, he knew she was typing on the PDA, so he wouldn't get the answer himself. Instead she would show the typed message to the headmistress, whether she would read it aloud for him was yet to be seen.

A few moments later, he got his answer.

"It takes years to become fluent, but the more you use it and acclimate in with others using it, the easier it will come to you." She answered.

Annie thought about this and she should have known the answer. It was the same as with any language. Immersing yourself in it was the best way to learn it and the fact of the matter was, she didn't have a choice. The question remained how much Auggie would be able to learn along the way.