Amanda Anderson's scheme is working. It looks like Annie and Auggie are going to make plans to go to Illinois for Thanksgiving. Another day in the the life of our CIA couple.

And, in case anyone has forgotten, I don't own a single thing associated with Covert Affairs except the DVD of Season 1 that I purchased myself and a tee shirt I won in an online sweepstakes. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 2 – Making Plans

Auggie woke up gradually vaguely aware he wasn't in his own bedroom and smiled remembering his late supper and evening with Annie. "Annie? Where IS Annie?" he thought. He stopped breathing for a second so he could listen for her breathing. Nothing. He listened for her in the shower, but the apartment was quiet. Then he heard her footsteps coming toward the bedroom. His smile at the mere sound of her footsteps was a reflex he could not control … even if he wanted to.

Annie was carrying two large mugs of coffee. Auggie turned toward the sound and greeted her, "Mornin', Sunshine."

"Good morning, yourself. Are you ready for this mug of coffee? I'll set it on the bedside table."

Auggie got up to use the bathroom and slipped back into bed to listen to the morning news with Annie and enjoy his first cup of coffee.

As they were finishing their coffee, Annie explained that she had put out fresh bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. "Everything's on the table, if you want to start while I jump in the shower," she whispered.

Auggie nodded as a slight devilish grin turned up the corners of his mouth. "It's a shame your shower's so small."

"Geez, you are such a mess," Annie laughed as she lightly punched his shoulder.

Auggie made his way to the table and found breakfast laid out the way Annie always positioned it for him. He appreciated the small gesture, but he had stopped thanking Annie for her thoughtfulness. She always told him it was nothing or said "You'd do the same

thing for me, wouldn't you?" Yes, he would, but it meant so much to him that she made whatever environment he was in easy to negotiate.

The shower was quiet and just a moment later Annie opened the bathroom door allowing the aroma of steaming grapefruit scented shower gel to permeate the apartment. "Aug, did you find everything you need?" she asked as she walked to the kitchen.

"Sure did," he answered as he held out a cup of coffee for her.

"Thanks," she said taking the cup and savoring it. Annie slipped into the chair across from Auggie and spread some cream cheese on her bagel. "Do you want to swing by your place on the way in to the office this morning, so you can check your phone for messages?"

"Might be a good idea," Auggie said. "I'd like to listen to Mom's message before I call her back and walk into a conversation I'm not expecting. Amanda Anderson can be full of surprises."

Auggie showered while Annie cleaned up from breakfast and got dressed. A few minutes later, Annie realized she was still futzing with her hair, and Auggie was ready to roll. "How do you do that?" she asked him.

"Do what?"

"Be ready before me, when I started first; and still look like a cover for GQ."

Auggie chuckled, "I don't waste time on mirrors."

Annie poured the remaining coffee into go cups for the drive, grabbed her keys and asked, "Ready?"

Auggie was already standing by the doorwith his folded cane. Holding it up, he said, "I think I have everything I need. Let's hit the road."

Annie plugged her iPod into her iTrip. "I made a new jazz playlist. I think you're going to like it … it's a mix of traditional and contemporary artists."

Auggie leaned back against the headrest and listened as the soulful music helped him release the last remaining tension from the day before. As she wove through the morning traffic, Annie occasionally glanced over at Auggie and smiled at his humming and contented expression. "Keep your eyes on the road, Walker," Auggie teased.

"How'd you …. Oh, never mind." Annie whispered in exasperation.

Auggie chuckled. "When you turn your head, your hair brushes against your jacket and I get a whiff of your shampoo," he explained as he reached up and squeezed her shoulder and gave her a gentle double pat.

"And I thought you had magical powers."

"No magic. Just astute powers of observation," Auggie said.

"There's no parking spot in front of your building today. I've had to park about half a block away, so if you don't mind, I'll go with you," Annie said as she parked the car and cut the ignition.

"Actually, I'd appreciate that this morning. I still have just a little tension headache going from yesterday," Auggie admitted.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Thought the coffee and a hot shower would solve the problem. It didn't," he explained as he climbed out of the car and did something unusual. He didn't unfold his cane, and he waited for Annie.

Annie did a little double take as she closed her door and locked up. But, she decided not to make a big deal of his change of habit. As she walked around the car to Auggie, she said, "It will probably get better when you take something for it and have another cup of coffee." She touched his hand and he took her arm to walk to the apartment entrance.

Rubbing his forehead, he said, "It generally does."

Annie gave him a little worried look, stopped and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. Auggie smiled, "Easy there we don't want to be late for work."

Inside his apartment, Auggie went straight to the bathroom cabinet to find his prescription medication "Now," Auggie said, "I should feel tip-top in about half an hour." He walked into the bedroom and picked up his personal cell phone off the night stand and checked the voice mails. There was only one. It was from his mother, and he replayed it on the speaker for Annie to hear, too.

"Auggie, I don't want to spring a Thanksgiving visit on you at the last minute like I did last year. So I'm calling early to get on yours and Annie's schedule for a trip home to spend a few days with us at Thanksgiving. We miss you and Annie. Please try to work it out and let me know, so I can make your flight reservations. Call back as soon as you can. Love you both."

Auggie smiled and shook his head. "She makes a persuasive argument, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does," Annie agreed, "and I think we should go."

"I do too," Auggie said. "I'm beginning to realize, I hid in the Tech Office at the DPD a little longer than I should have. And, Annie, having you with me when I go actually makes the trip fun."

Settling back into the car for the drive to the office, Auggie asked, "Do you think we have time to swing through Starbucks for another cup of java?"

"We'll make time," Annie said. "Maybe it'll make your meds work a little faster."

Auggie smiled and nodded and he leaned his head back on the headrest and enjoyed Annie's new playlist. After they had stopped for coffee, Auggie quietly sipped his coffee while Annie drove and resisted her usual morning chatter with him when they drove in together. When she pulled into a parking spot and stopped the car, Auggie turned to her and said, "Well, I think I'm going to make it through the day. Thank you."

"I'm glad, but for what?"

"The coffee, the music, the quiet ride," he said as he leaned in closer to her, cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her.

When they got out of the car, Auggie met Annie by the hatch. Annie reached out to touch her hand to let him know where she was, but rather than taking her arm, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to walk through the parking lot. Annie returned the hug by patting him on the back. They chatted quietly as they made their way to the front entrance.

As they entered the lobby, Auggie told Annie he would talk to Joan first about time off for Thanksgiving. He had dropped his arm to lightly hold on to Annie's arm as they entered through the security station, and once through security, he released Annie and followed the sound of her footsteps and voice to the elevator.

In the crowded elevator, Annie reached for Auggie's hand and squeezed it making him smile. When the door opened at their floor, Annie reached for his hand again as she started moving toward the door. In the DPD, stopping at Auggie's door, she reminded him to let her know what Joan would say about Thanksgiving.

Auggie weighed whether or not to call Joan or go to her office and decided to call her to talk while he booted up his equipment for the day. Auggie was one of the few CIA staffers who not only knew Joan's extension but was allowed to use it. Her phone rang twice, and checking the caller ID, she picked up the receiver, "Yes, Auggie."

"Joan, I need a favor."

"What would that be?"

"My mom is on her annual campaign to get me home for Thanksgiving, and this year she has invited Annie, too. We'd like to go out on Tuesday and possibly stretch our visit to Monday. Is that doable?" Auggie asked.

Joan couldn't help but smile, but she straightend her face before she replied. "I think we'll be able to manage a few days by ourselves, so both of you can spend some time with your family."

"Thanks, Joan. As always, you are the best."

Joan respected Auggie's drive, but she had worried because he'd spent several years avoiding his family. She was glad to see him easing back into a good relationship with his family and taking Annie along for the ride.

Before calling Annie's extension to tell her they could leave on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and come back as late as Monday, Auggie clutched the receiver with his left hand and tapped it into the palm of his right hand. Pressing the receiver button to get a dial tone, he called Annie's extension. Annie saw Auggie's name on the ID window, and answered, "Hi, Auggie."

"You know it could be someone using my phone."

"It could be, but don't forget I can see into your office from my desk, and I can see you at your desk holding the phone," Annie quipped.

"I guess I did forget that … not sure I ever fully realized it," he answered.

"Did you talk to Joan."

"Yep. We can leave as early as Tuesday and come back as late as Monday. I'll call Mom and see how that fits with what she has in mind. Will that work for you?"

"Sure will. That way we'll have a little extra time to spend with your parents alone. Sometimes when we're there, I sense your Mom misses having one-on-one time with you. I'm just glad she welcomes me to tag along."

Auggie laughed at her. "Mom is very fond of you, and you know what? That scares me. I know I don't have a chance against either one of you, much less the two of you together."

"Why, Auggie Anderson, you are beginning to sound paranoid. Do you think we're plotting against you?" she asked playfully.

"No, but I know it could happen. I'm going to try to catch her before our day gets crazy and she's out of the house to one of her meetings."

Annie watched Auggie from across the DPD bullpen as he rubbed his forehead and held the receiver against his forehead before he called his mother. She saw his fingers carefully key in the phone number and while the phone was probably ringing he took a deep breath and smiled. She could read his lips as he said, "Hi, Mom."

Feeling she might be pushing personal boundries … and besides he had a strange sense when someone stared at him … Annie turned to the thick folder of translations she needed to have back to Joan before she left that evening. She knew Auggie would either call her with a full report of the conversation or saunter past her desk on the pretense of giving her money to go buy coffee and tell her about the conversation.

She knew that Auggie had talked to his mom, but she received no phone call. At mid-morning Auggie showed up at Annie's desk with a ten dollar bill in his hand. He cleared his throat as he approached her desk because he could hear her typing and more than a few times she'd jumped and let out a squeal when he walked up and started talking to her when she was deep in concentration.

"Hey, there Anderson. Do you feel like another cup of coffee?"

"That sounds good, and this should be enough to get you a cup along with a snack for us. Maybe a muffin or a scone to share?"

Annie stood up and took the bill from his hand. She leaned in and whispered, "So, when are we going?"

"I talked to Mom, and we're going to fly out on Tuesday and come back on Monday. Is that still OK with you?"

"Sure," Annie said, "as long as it's still OK with Joan."

Auggie smiled and reminded her, "And you won't have to fly coach on this trip. Mom is buying us first class tickets."

"That sounds sweet."

Thank's for reading. Check back to see what else is going on while plans are being made to go home for Thanksgiving.