A/N From here on out this is OOC - nervous but excited about where this could head :) As always, love hearing your opinions, ideas, and criticism :) They're kinda like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies on the "how happy does this make me" scale. Love to you all.

Disclaimer: Like everyone else in this story, I wish Auggie was mine. But alas, he is not. Neither is anything else Covert Affairs.

Auggie Steps Through The Curtain

"There is a life for operatives beyond the curtain. A fulfilling life." Arthur spoke quietly to Auggie as he stood getting ready to face the media for the first time as the new head of the OCA.

"Yes, sir." He had a lot of respect for Arthur. He would do this job to the best of his abilities. No more time to waver in this decision. He had made his choice and it was time to follow through. He had been a soldier, doing things while struggling with doubts about his actions had become second nature to him. This shouldn't be so hard. He had known for a while that they were not going to sanction him to go back into the field. There had been months of discussions, interviews, background checks, and breakfast meetings with Arthur then Joan to prepare him for this moment. They were well aware of how difficult it was for a covert operative to let go of their cover after years of secrecy. For Auggie as a former special forces soldier, the need for confidentiality was built in his psyche as a matter of life or death. Mainly because for his unit, it had been.

To actually walk through the curtain and give it all up for good though - it would be the longest 10 steps to the front of the stage that he had ever taken in his life. He was breaking his cover. The old Auggie would no longer exist. He would be a CIA front person. No longer would he have diplomatic immunity - he would be held responsible for any mistakes he made - and the mistakes of others who could not be exposed for safety reasons. The level of responsibility he was now accepting was daunting, even for someone as ambitious as he had always been. The head of a CIA department. It had always been on his long term plan, he just hadn't expected to be offered the position so soon. If he had had his way he would have stayed in the action on the grassroots level for much longer. Of course, being blinded by a bomb hadn't been in his plan either. All things considered this was an excellent career move for him.

Underneath all the tension and nervousness, there was a growing sense of excitement about this promotion. He would have his finger on the pulse of the country. This was no small scale brush pass position. The operations organized by his department were extremely specialized and involved the highest levels if government. He was the visible and approachable head of the department, with a few support staff and a small overt team which handled the political dealings of the CIA. But the real power of his position lay in the team of specialized undercover operatives at his command. They were the operatives who investigated and dealt with threats to the stability of upper level government from both within and without. To know that he had been entrusted with so much was deeply satisfying, although nerve-wracking. His first task would be to earn the trust and respect of his team, many of whom would be older and more experienced than him. Auggie had always enjoyed a challenge, and this would be his biggest yet. Yes, some of the butterflies were definitely the excited kind.

"Auggie, it's time." Arthurs voice cut into his musings. He nodded curtly and turned to walk onto the stage.

Breathe Auggie. He had to remind himself. He wished Annie was there with him, she could always calm him down. Not to mention her ability to brighten any celebration.

He pushed aside the curtain and walked briskly across the stage to roaring applause as Arthur finished announcing him. He paused for a minute at the front of the stage and absorbed the sound, smiling openly at the crowd in front of him. It included politicians, diplomats, rich businessmen, and members of the press. Auggie realized that whether or not he had admitted it to himself, this kind of acknowledgment had been something he had been working towards for a long time. He had fought his personal demons when he went blind, emerging stronger and with a core made of steel. He had learned to truly care for people and honed his already excellent leadership skills to become the sort of head of department who both inspired his team and instinctively commanded their respect. It had been hard work, but at this moment it was finally all worth it. He was being welcomed and accepted into the upper echelon of power in the country.

As the applause swept around him growing louder instead of softer, the final piece of "Auggie. Blind head of tech Op's" fell away, and he stepped fully into his new role as the Head of the Office of Congressional Affairs. He was accepting this role with the support of the people around him. They believed in him and he had been carefully chosen for this position. The slight insecurity inside him that had had him holding back finally accepted that he would be able to do this job. And he would be good at it. That was all he needed to know for now. Everything else could be dealt with later. His grin widened as he greeted the guests and opened up the floor for questions from the press.

Back in the DPD Annie, Joan, and the rest of the team eagerly watched Auggie handle the press conference with style and ease. He lightly brushed off questions which were too personal with a witty joke or anecdote, but he was consistently genuine and authentic in the way he responded to them. By the end of the conference he had them all eating out of the palm of his hand. He had gained their trust and respect. The notoriously difficult to handle congressional press corps laughed at his jokes and kept their questions friendly. It was unusual for them, usually they were trying to eviscerate anyone in positions of power.

When they temporarily ran out of questions, Arthur announced that it was time to party and mingle, and Auggie was immediately surrounded by members of the press and congress eager to shake his hand and meet the young man who had so quickly risen through the ranks of the CIA to become the new head of the OCA. The reporters on TV all agreed in their post conference commentary that Auggie would make an excellent impact on the CIA's transperency initiative, gaining public approval and enabling more cooperation between government departments.

Annie had nearly exploded with pride in her best friend as Auggie walked onto the stage chin parallel with the ground, eyes shining happily, and grinning from ear to ear. For the first time she began to understand why Joan had said this would be a good position for Auggie. He thrived from interacting with the people around him. Absorbing the excitement from the room. The charm that had usually been used to get women to go home with him after a evening drinking at Allens, was now turned on full blast towards the congressional press corps, and none of them could resist it either. She had never realised just how charismatic he really was until she saw him charm that crowd without lifting a finger. He would be great in this new role.

Watching him in the background of the screen, mingling with the crowd at the party was causing her to realise that he truly was stepping into an entirely new life. He would have a new social circle, meet new people, go new places. And these were not places that she, as a covert operative, would be able to go. As the reporters ran around with microphones asking for interviews with the high profile guests, she could see him surrounded by a crowd of fawning diplomats and female reporters. She wasn't sure if they wanted to be near him because of his power or his personal charisma, but they clearly had no intentions of ever leaving his side. Heh. She laughed to herself. Typical Auggie, surrounded by women in minutes. Ladies love a blind guy, right? She felt a twinge of sadness knowing that she would never completely be able to be part of this new life Auggie was building.

She looked down to see her phone vibrating on her desk. Auggie Anderson? Looking up she could see he had disappeared from the screen. She answered the call with a smile,

"Sick of the fawning fan club already?" She heard Auggie's baritone laugh rumbling in the background.

"Never, but schmoozing just isn't my thing when I don't have you to make sarcastic comments to. I've shaken hands with everyone I need to, wanna meet me in my office for a celebratory drink?"

She had wanted to let him go. She had planned on letting him walk into his new life while she took time to get over him. But how could a girl turn down a request like that from the high-in-demand Auggie Anderson? She certainly couldn't. Especially considering just how gorgeous he looked in that three piece suit.

A/N Next chapter: Auggie and Annie's personal celebration ;)