A/N Love love LOVE you guys for reviewing! :) I'll try to work your suggestions and ideas in so if there's anything you want to see happen please share! :D

Disclaimer: Don't even own the punching bag in Covert Affairs. Sad.

Chapter 4

After a long night of tossing and turning Annie gave up trying to sleep around 5am and headed to the Langley gym. Maybe she could take out her frustration on a punching bag.

She could handle this. Or that's what she was telling herself - and would continue to tell herself until she believed it.

Thwack.

Auggie was leaving her. That's fine she didn't need him. She was just upset because of the changes it would bring to her life in other ways. Like her new handler Reva who already seemed to dislike her. She had met the girl earlier that day when she cut her off in the coffee line but Joan had just informed her that Reva was Auggie's choice for her new handler. Auggie had supposedly put the applicants through 'hell' during their interviews, how did he still end up choosing the straight-laced alpha barbie. Seriously, sometimes it was like the guy wasn't blind and made decisions purely based on appearances. And no, that was not a hint of jealousy. That was just a rational analysis of Auggie's womanizing behavior.

Not that it mattered since apparently Reva would be replacing him. Auggie's promotion was going to make her life miserable.

Thwack.

She hit the bag from hugging distance, putting as much force into the punch as possible. Maybe if she destroyed the punching back she wouldn't feel this driving urge to destroy Auggie for choosing to abandon her to put up with Jai all on her own. She had had enough of guys abandoning her.

She thought back to the first guy she had fallen for, Daniel. Her family had been stationed in Nepal. She was 14. They had had a perfect summer together, scaling Himalayan Mountains and talking for hours while stargazing at night. He had been the first to leave her when his family was reassigned to another country - she still wasn't sure which country, he hadn't said goodbye.

She understood of course, saying goodbye was a ritual which caused unnecessary pain. Although probably highly unhealthy, she preferred the emotional shut down and run approach. It was easier to pretend someone had never mattered to you and refuse to ever think of them again than to try to hold onto something uncertain. Goodbyes were messy. There were tears and promises made that were guaranteed to be broken. She was better off without them. She had become very, very good at not crying over goodbyes scenes. Now, in fact, her natural response when someone was leaving her was to crack jokes and smile, even if the other person was sobbing. Call it a defense mechanism. Or call it cold heartedness. Either way it worked. And she was determined not to let herself cry over Auggie leaving her. She was stronger than that.

Thwack.

The icing on the cake was that this announcement had come just as her and Auggie's were starting to get closer. Behind their usual lighthearted banter she had felt slightly more heat and depth on rare occasions lately. He hid it well but she couldn't help but wonder if he had ever considered what it would be like to kiss her.

Thwack.

Or so she had thought.

Thwack.

The facts just didn't add up. Auggie loved his job at the DPD and he had been working on regaining authorization for field work. He had been convinced he was close. It wasn't like him to go down without a fight. Joan said he wasn't truly happy with his job in tech ops but she had never seen him upset about being her handler when she was on missions. Her instincts were usually spot-on. She would have noticed if he was less than content – wouldn't she? Or had he been hiding his real thoughts on the job to avoid making her feel guilty. It would be just like him to go all cave-man on her if he felt he was protecting her. Heaven forbid that he just acknowledge that she was an emotionally stable and capable woman who could cope with the truth about how he felt.

Thwack.

This decision made it clear that she had never factored into his long term plans. Clearly she wasn't as important to him as she had thought. In fact, maybe nothing he had told her had even been true to begin with. Not that it mattered. She hadn't let herself need a man since the first time her father sent her to boarding school against her will and she was not about to start now. Auggie could do whatever he wanted, she would be fine.

She began to beat up the punching bag in earnest now, wanting nothing more than to stop thinking about Auggie. She had thought he was different, that he really cared about her friendship. But clearly he was just. Like. Every. Other. Man. In. Her. Life.

Each word in her thoughts was punctuated by solid contact with the punching bag. Inhale, pull arm back, exhale, thwack. She was so focused on her movements that she didn't notice Auggie approaching her until his voice broke through her angry haze.

"Did the punching bag offend you personally or is it just bearing the brunt of your anger about something else?" She paused and glared at him just long enough to take in the trademarked grin on his face before she resumed beating up the bag. Auggie's eyes softened as he spoke again,

"I'm gonna go with the something else. Feel like punching me instead? I don't think the punching bag deserves to take my punishment." His tone was still lighthearted but there was an underlying hint of something else. Concern maybe?

"I'm fine Auggie." Cold. Flat. Emotionless. Perfect. He was the last person she wanted to talk to right now. Then again, his offer to let her punch him was tempting. The punching bag clearly wasn't solving anything.

"Yes, you're clearly fine. That's why you're beating a hole in the bag at 5am." Auggie's voice was now wry and sarcastic. Fine, so maybe she wasn't doing such a good job of pretending to be okay. He was still her best friend after all. He knew when something was off. New tactic: time to change the subject. She pushed all her emotions to the side and focused on Auggie.

"You've got your first press conference today, you excited?" Hopefully he would take the bait and believe everything would blow over.

"Honestly Annie, I'm nervous. The first couple of assignments Arthur gave me were pretty counter intuitive. I didn't do so well on the first one and had to rewrite it." Now she just felt selfish for the way she had been acting. He was her friend and he needed her. Her natural empathy and compassion always came jumping to the forefront whenever Auggie sounded upset. She put her hand on his shoulder and took a deep breath.

"You're the best operative I know Auggie. You've overcome so much and this is a huge change. Give yourself some time, you are going to blow them all away." If only she could take her own advice. Annie sighed. She would support Auggie if this was what he wanted to do. Whatever other feelings she had begun to develop for him would just have to be squashed.

"Thanks Annie." His voice sounded husky. She didn't give herself a chance to analyze why. Would he miss her? Was he regretting his decision? No. Stop. Train of thought not permitted. He seemed to regain control before he spoke again though.

"I'd better head over to Arthurs office, early morning briefing for the press conference." Business as usual. That was fine, easier actually. She could be business like. They were just two people who happened to work for the same company. Friends. Nothing more. She moved her hand slowly from his shoulder down his arm before releasing him.

"See you later Aug." She hoped he hadn't heard her voice crack. She needed to get out of here before she lost control of her emotions again.

"Are you sure you are ok Annie?" Damn it how was he so good at reading her.

"Auggie. I am in perfect health, working in my dream job, and my best friend just got promoted. Life's great. Why on earth would I not be ok?" She hoped that was convincing enough. At the very least he seemed to have got the message that she didn't want to talk about it as he nodded then left the room without looking back.

She let out a tortured breath she hadn't realized she was holding and resumed punching the bag. She would get through this. She would be fine. And she would most definitely forget all about Auggie Anderson.