Auggie wasn't one to approach anything with consistent trepidation, but he never looked forward to his meetings with Arthur. By the end of his second week he knew that of his two bosses, Arthur was the one that would say things that always were a slight bit insulting.
"Auggie, how are things going?"
"Well enough I suppose. I didn't spill any major secrets on the news shows this week, and Congress hasn't revoked all funding for the Eastern European missions."
"You're doing a fine job." Arthur replied. "The media loves you! Have you had any security troubles outside the office?"
"I think the fact that I forget to close my curtains might be an issue, but other than that, everything is fine."
"Good to hear it. Now, about this vacation that you have on the books later this month, I'm going to have to ask you to postpone."
Auggie sighed. He wasn't completely surprised, but he wasn't happy about the development. "I was going for a specific event. I can't postpone."
"Then I'll need you to pick a different event, and go at a later date. The new face of the CIA can't disappear off to Istanbul a month after taking over."
"It will have been six weeks, sir, but I understand. I'll cancel my arrangements."
"Thank you Auggie. Now, I'm having my assistant forward a list of missions that we intend to declassify over the next six months. I need the OCA to go through these and decide the manner of declassification that would be most beneficial to the country. Have those that will make us look best to our enemies released at times when the world is watching, domestic victories should be at times when America is attentive. Things like that."
"Will do. Anything else sir?"
"No. Keep up the good work." Arthur replied. Auggie turned to leave, and then turned back around to the direction of Arthur's desk.
"I have one thing to ask, sir."
"Yes?"
"I left all press appearances up to Audrey, the PR specialist. She set up a meeting with Liza Hearn on Thursday."
"Interesting. You could cancel it." Arthur suggested in a tone that stated that he knew Auggie wouldn't take such a simple route.
"That would be suspicious."
"You're so-called mission with Liza was off-book, therefore you may treat it however you prefer. Maybe speak to your PR team about your background with her, and see what they suggest."
"Yes sir. Thank you."
By the time Auggie got back to his desk he was desperate for a distraction, so he used his agency-wide power to look in on Annie. Her next mission was risky, she was going to have to backpack to the Belarussian border to leave a spy device that Reva had developed just before joining the DPD. Reva had to stay back to run Tech Ops, so Stu was going to join Annie on the hike. A full week in the Eastern European Mountains sounded fantastic to Auggie so he lived vicariously through his former operative by checking the arrangements to be sure his old department didn't forget any details.
Auggie was immersed in his own duties for the week, and the few times he checked on Annie there was no news. She and Stu had met all of the check-ins, and were progressing on schedule as they hiked toward their destination.
On Thursday, Audrey and Auggie went together to the interview with Liza Hearn. Just after walking in the studio, Auggie heard a familiar voice. "Glad you could fit me in, Auggie." Liza greeted.
"Happy to be here, Liza." Auggie replied. "Though let's keep this formal." He added, quietly.
"Whatever you want, August." Liza replied, though as she said it her hand was on his chest, her fingers wiggled against him before she pulled it away.
Liza wasn't a real love interest for Auggie, but they did have a level of intimacy that wouldn't happen without a certain level of attraction. Her hand wasn't there by chance, she knew his buttons.
"Mr. Anderson, I need to apply some makeup." A stage assistant stated.
"Yeah." Auggie replied as he turned toward the voice. "Lead the way."
Auggie and Liza were seated at a small table for the interview. He was getting used to the heat from the lights, but this time they felt a little warmer. This was his only interview where he had also slept with the reporter.
"Hello, I'm here with August Anderson, the new Director of the Office of Congressional Affairs for the Central Intelligence Agency. Thank you for coming, August."
"Happy to be here, Liza."
"You seem to be the CIA's most popular employee these days. How is that going?"
Auggie laughed. "It's very weird. The CIA discourages popularity."
"And yet, here you are."
"You can't put the genie back into the bottle. It's not a decision I took lightly."
"What more can you tell us about this decision?"
"We aren't here to talk about my career, are we, Liza?" Auggie said, with a grin that was almost too intimate.
"Yes, we are." She replied, her tone almost cold. "Because I feel like your career is the result of the CIA trying to push other stories under the rug."
"My career is the result of the CIA trying to open up and share as much information as safely possible."
"I don't know about the American public, but I don't feel much safer knowing that up until a month ago, a blind operative was in charge of some sort of intelligence gathering."
Liza expected the comment to result in the cold glare that Auggie had given in the past when she pushed him for information. Instead, he laughed. "We all have our specialties. I will tell you what I told the congressional members that I met with last week. While my previous roles within the CIA are classified, I can share that since losing my sight I have never been in charge of a visual evidence investigation, and all of my requests to jump out of airplanes have been denied."
"Why did the CIA decide to throw you in front of the cameras?"
"For the same reasons we just discussed. Having me in this position is the best thing for the CIA and for America. I have been a field operative and I have been behind the scenes." Auggie stopped and lifted his eyebrows, speaking to everyone in the room, in general. "I got clearance just this morning to announce that much." Then returning to Liza he added "While I am fully qualified and one of the best at the tasks that I was doing a month ago, you can't argue with the Agency's decision to bring me into the light."
"I could argue that your background makes you less likely to be forthcoming."
"That would be true." Auggie replied with a light shrug. "But any information that I withhold is purely for the safety and security of America."
"The CIA is hiding some dark information."
"Yes. But bringing that information into the light won't make it any less dark. If there are mistakes that have been made, and I'm not saying that there are, they would be a lot harder to clean up with the eyes of the world watching."
"The CIA would make less mistakes if the world were watching."
"If the world was watching, we couldn't reciprocate."
Liza couldn't help but grin at his words. She pulled herself back together quickly. "I'm not saying that the CIA shouldn't be covert. But there are missions that have been classified since World War Two. Are you really trying to say that those situations are classified because of current security concerns, and not to hide mistakes of our past?"
"That is exactly what I'm saying." Auggie replied. "Though the Agency is currently looking at some completed missions to determine if their classification is necessary, there are missions from World Way two that are still active, in some way or another."
"That is ridiculous. We don't need to maintain this cold war mentality in regards to information gathering."
"We need it now, more than ever."
"Are you saying there is a threat out there as dangerous as the Nazis?"
"The enemy has changed over the past sixty years, if the attacks on September Eleventh taught us anything, it is that our enemy has changed."
"That was eleven years ago. How long will the American public be handed those attacks as an excuse for dark, hidden agendas?"
"Our only agenda is to keep the American public safe through information gathering."
"There are some dark ways your Agency collects information."
"That's not unique to the CIA. There are many law enforcement agencies that make deals with known murderers in order to gather information that improves public safety."
"The CIA isn't a law enforcement agency."
"No, we are not." Auggie clarified. "We don't even have badges."
"From your perspective, is the CIA still compromising future security for current intelligence gathering?"
"The CIA has never intentionally compromised American safety."
"The CIA provided money to assets which funded terrorist activities."
"I assume you are talking about the recently declassified Green Scorpion mission. At the time, there was no way to know that the money would be used for terrorist activities. The information gained through that deal was used to prevent the terrorist activities that would have been funded, either way."
"The greatest challenge for terrorists is the acquisition of funding. You can't pretend that is a small detail."
"In the case of Green Scorpion, it is. We intercepted a hundred thousand dollar payment, and prevented that from occurring. Instead, we provided a lower amount for information by sending agents to pose as the intended contacts, and were able to gain valuable information without the terror cell ever knowing. Our job is not always black and white."
"Well, we are out of time today. I look forward to seeing more of you, Mr. Anderson."
"You know where to find me." Auggie replied. Liza fought to react to the more personal interpretation of his comment before Auggie continued. "I look forward to an open relationship with the American public, which is what I know you are trying to achieve. Thank you for having me today."
...
The cameras were off and Auggie was a little more relaxed as he and Liza walked backstage.
"I know where to find you, huh?"
"Looking forward to seeing more of me?" Auggie asked, in return.
"You did good out there."
"Do you really think so?" Auggie asked, with sincerity in his voice.
"I never thought you would need reassurance, Auggie."
He shrugged. "You know I'm a little out of my element, here."
"You are great at everything you do." Liza replied, touching his arm.
Auggie grinned. "Thank you. Now, I need to wash this makeup off and get back to the office."
"I was hoping we might be able to grab a beer."
"You know I can't do that."
"A girl can dream." Liza replied.
"Why Liza, do you miss me?" Auggie asked, quietly.
"Sometimes," She replied with honesty.
Auggie reached for her hand on his arm and took it in his hand just before he heard Audrey walk up.
"Are you ready Mr. Anderson?"
"Thanks again, Ms. Hearn."
"The pleasure was all mine, Auggie."
Auggie took Audrey's arm and followed her away. "I need to get this makeup off my face," Auggie stated.
"Yeah," Audrey said as she led him to the dressing room sink and handed him a washcloth.
Auggie rinsed off his face, a routine that he and Audrey had gotten used to over the past week. "Everything in order?"
"Yeah, you're fine." She assured him before offering her arm again. Auggie put his messenger bag across his shoulders and took her elbow.
"What's wrong?" He asked, hearing his new assistant's quick tone.
"You should have told me that you already knew Liza."
Auggie went silent.
"It wasn't too obvious, at least." Audrey added.
"You are right, I should have told you."
"For what it's worth, I figured it out from what went on backstage. While you definitely had a different tone than normal in that interview, most people will attribute it to the difference in interview styles."
"Good."
The two of them got into Audrey's car to go back to Langley. While Audrey was technically Auggie's Public Relations advisor, in the past week she had been accompanying him to all of his interviews as an assistant.
"So, what was your relationship with Liza?"
"I was dating with her in order to find who was leaking information."
Auggie felt the car jerk with Audrey's surprise. Perhaps they should have discussed this at the office. "You were sleeping with her?" She asked, her voice raised.
"Yes," he replied, coolly.
"You didn't think to tell me that when we were prepping?"
"I thought about it, yes." Auggie grinned. "I'm still getting used to this whole 'full and honest disclosure' concept."
"You don't have to tell me everything, but damn. We could have used that particular information in your favor."
"I thought it went well enough?"
"Yeah. You did fine. I guess this explains the way she was touching you backstage."
"She was trying to distract me before we went on."
Audrey was silent for a moment, then let out a light laugh.
"What is it?" Auggie asked.
"Is your relationship with Ms. Hearn classified?"
"No. I double-checked with Arthur last week."
"Then it might just come in handy one day."