Annie POV

My breath caught in my throat at the sound of my name. I looked up to see a pair of soft brown eyes, the same brown eyes that had haunted my dreams for the first two months. They will filled with . . . was that a hint of hope?

I didn't trust myself to answer and tried to pull away, tears making my throat close up.

"No, Annie, please, is that you?"

God damn that voice, I thought, his voice sent shivers up and down my spine. His voice was something my dreams were never spot on about, it was always muted.

To think that I had almost gotten over how hurt I was the day he left; it was all rushing back now.

"I can literally hear you smiling."

That day seemed like years back in time, but the pain was still just as fresh as right after those words left his mouth.

"Annie, say something."

I was jolted back to my present predicament.

"Where are the letters?"

It seemed an innocent enough question.

What I hadn't expected as an answer was being pulled into his embrace, his arms locking around me tight, my head surprisingly fitting perfectly into the crook of his neck and shoulder. Suddenly, everything seemed right in the world.

"Annie, I missed you," he whispered, his lips so close to my ear that his breath tickled a few stray strands of hair that came loose from my pony tail.

I began to pull away from him, and when he felt me resist, his arms immediately fell to his sides.

Slowly, still mute, I began to back away from him, tears in my eyes.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head, knowing that he couldn't see.

"You left."

He immediately began to walk towards me, his hands out, trying to find me again.

"You left for four months, Auggie," I choked around my tears, "you left me your car and I never heard from you ever again. I didn't even know where the hell you were going. If I hadn't decided to take this mission, then I would've probably never seen you again."

He was quiet for some time and I watched the wave of emotions pass over his face. The first one was shock, then morphing into realization, and finally setting into guilt.

"Where you ever going to come back?"

I didn't recognize my own voice; it sounded so small, so childish.

I waited for him to answer, and when he didn't, I got all the information I needed. I began to walk deeper into the tent, away from the entrance, away from him.

"Annie let's sit down and talk about this," he called from the opening of the tent.

I turned my back to him, finding the pile of letters with my name on it and a post-it stuck to the first one probably from Jai, I began to make my way out of the already empty tent.

"I have a job to do."

"This conversation isn't over."

After waiting a few minutes, I heard him walk back towards the entrance and heard the tent flap open, and then close. I was left in silence.

I let the tears fall, one by one, landing on the front of my shirt, glistening like small little diamonds before blending in with the dark green material.

Do your job, Walker.

I took a deep breath and pushed my feelings into a box, scanning around the tent, I found an appointment book on the side.

Checking to make sure that no one else was here, I quickly flipped through it, scanning the list of names for the files manager.

Finally, at the very bottom, penciled in, was the name Stephen LaMonica.

I flipped back a to a few weeks ago to make sure that he had handled the files then too and closed the book, placing it back on the desk.

I walked out of the tent, wiping at my fallen tears.

Auggie POV

She has every god damn right to be pissed at me, I thought as I walked out. But for some reason, I couldn't get past the fluttering in my chest, I had seen her again! Well, not seen her but I felt her next to me. God, I didn't realize how much I missed that.

I missed the way she used to gently take my elbow and lead me around the desks back in Langley; it seemed like a lifetime ago, I missed how we used to go to the bar almost every Friday. I missed her, just in general, everything about her.

"You left."

I couldn't see her face but I didn't need to, to know that she was crying.

She sounded so broken that it almost broke my heart. I wanted to turn back and walk back in there, take her in my arms and apologize several times over but there were a few things that stopped me.

You were happy here for four months with Parker, so who says that you can't forget your feelings for Annie and build a life with someone else? It would be so much easier to officially send in your resignation to Joan and just stay here with Parker. Maybe eventually get married.

Yes, it would be easier, I mused, but would I be happier? Would she be able to constantly test my boundaries like Annie had? Would she be able to make me feel the way Annie made, and still makes, me feel when her skin brushes against mine? Would she understand why I'll always feel like another piece of me was left back in DC in Langley, always waiting for Annie to come and get me and tell me that I'm OK?

"Probably not," I thought.

Jai POV

I was roused from the sound of the tent opening and immediately sat up, my hand closing around the small Glock I kept underneath my pillow.

"Just me."

The voice came closer and suddenly I was met with a blurry, yet recognizable head of long blond locks and bright brown eyes. These eyes were filled with tears.

"Annie," I mumbled, throwing my legs over the side of my bed.

She immediately backed up and I saw her hand hastily wipe away the tears that were still in her eyes.

"Shariff Osamad has been handling the files for the Peace Corps for over a month, so he should know what happened to Abdul's files," she told me, her voice under control.

I nodded, storing that information up for later. I quickly assessed her situation, and realization quickly hit me.

"He found out, didn't he?"

She hesitated for a second and nodded.

Without another word, she climbed into the bunk next to mine and crawled underneath the covers. I watched as she tried to settle in and get comfortable, standing by the entrance.

"I'll take first watch, get some rest, Walker," I whispered and sat at the mouth of the tent.

I waited a few minutes and heard the inevitable sob come from her mouth when she thought I wasn't listening. I couldn't help her with this, I told myself, she has to get over this on her own. She would never forgive me if I helped her.

I sighed, getting up and walking out of the tent, standing outside, trying to give her as much privacy as possible.

I looked around the camp, everything was silent, the once bustling, loud tents were now only disturbed by the occasional wind. I looked up into the night sky, the moon hung in an elegant crescent in the navy blue backdrop, flooding the camp with light, making the sand seem silver.

I leaned against the tent ever so slightly, mulling over what Annie had just told me. Tomorrow morning would be out first check in, and until then, all we could do is wait; I already had theories on who this Shariff guy could be, but without a background check from Langley, I couldn't be sure.

Annie POV

The moon cast an eerie glow on the camp, making everything seem silvery-white.

I walked around the tents in a daze, seeing the tents, but not really seeing them.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned, only to see that there was nothing there. I continued on my enigmatic like journey, until suddenly, there was a crash, jolting me and making me jump.

I looked around to see that suddenly, the eerie calm that had settled around the camp was now being disturbed, and bombs were dropping from the air, setting tents on fire.

I watched, as if a spectator to the show, as Auggie ran with Parker towards one of the waiting vehicles when suddenly, a shooter appeared.

Everything became so clear, to the point where I saw the bullet being fired and watched as it entered his chest, blowing a hole straight through the size of my fist.

"Auggie!" I cried, springing up from the bed.

I looked around the silent tent, searching for him, momentarily disoriented as I stared into the darkness, waiting impatiently for my eyes to adjust.

When they did, I saw that it was empty, and it was still just as quiet as it had been when I had first crawled into bed.

"Just a dream," I told myself quietly, trying to soothe the quickening beat of my heart.

I looked at my watch; it was already 5:04 AM. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep any longer I flung the covers aside and pulled on my boots. I pulled my shirt off and pulled out a similar looking one from my duffel that was laid at my feet.

There was a note stock to it.

Annie-

By the time you're reading this it's probably around 5 am. Meet me in the breakfast tent for a quick debriefing. I think I found something.

Jai

I folded the note and slipped it into my pocket. I got up slowly, testing out my ankle to find that it surprisingly didn't throb as much as yesterday. Slowly, I walked towards the opening of the tent, taking a deep breath, I walked into the searing sun.

I took in the buzzing actions of the camp, people shouting orders and walking from tent to tent, everyone looked preoccupied. Suddenly, as if drawn by a madnet, I found him walking towards a larger red tent, Parker at his side, conversing with her easily.

Who knew being in the same camp as the man you loved was the same as being a whole country away?