SS: Broken and Healing ch5-7 pg6 - Page 2

Originally posted by: -ForeverYours-

im lost as phuck but auggies adorbs.

Originally posted by: DonnaHarvey

aw hell nah, nobody calls my imaginary kumquats missiles. I will have you know Minsk is the most beautiful city in and around Belarous. Prague is undeniably scenic and have you tasted saffron? I mean come on lady. what were you expecting? Jennifer and John?

Originally posted by: ranitha

In that case here you go
Fulaw: what is the fudge is that?
Minnehaha: Let's not get all trail of tears up in here. another no
Caviare: you serious? that dish is mighty expensive and tastes like salt water
Francisella( This one is a bacteria instead of a city or food but still I love the name): now this one I can dig😆

Originally posted by: --Udhay--

This was awesome, I'm happy 😃

Originally posted by: ronnie30

When i read the topic i expected it to be a normal love story but now i don't know what to expect... liked the way it is going!
will be glad to read it further
very nice
keep it up...😊

Chapter 3: Life without her

Time to get the backstory of the way.

Thank you very much for all your reviews. I appreciate all of them and I look forward to hearing from you. If there is something troubling you about the story or something you like, I want to hear. We will have a family reunion soon. Alright, here we go.

Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs or the characters. Only the plot of the fiction is my own.

Winter 2011, Washington D.C.

Annie made it clear that she did not want to see Auggie again. Nor did she want him to know of the night's occurrences. Whether or not he was made aware of his children, she left completely up to Joan. Joan had decided that Auggie would find out as soon as he was willing to look. For a man who insisted his frustration was directed at no one in particular, Annie endured a major share of his anger. From purposely keeping her out of the loop on his progress to making secret arrangements with DCS and have her shipped off to another continent, an outsider would think he had a vendetta against her. But Joan knew better. She had seen them through the years. This would have been their one year anniversary had the wedding gone as planned. The problem wasn't that Auggie had stopped loving Annie, the problem was he had stopped wanting to be with her altogether. He was blind and surely no sane woman should have to endure a life with a man like him. He internalized every stereotype, every pitiful condolence that came his way. He thought he had decided what was best for Annie: to slowly corner her until she wanted nothing to do with the man he had become. He wasn't the same person. He would never be the same person. If he felt lesser than, he couldn't let the love of his life to settle for the new him.

Some time mid-summer when Auggie was in the process of transitioning back to work, he noticed a change in Joan's attitude. He could tell from the cues around him that she still had the diplomatic poker face that she was known all over Langley for. Yet, her tone of voice would stiffen when addressing him, almost as if he had wronged her. He thought time and again what he had done to upset his boss but he came up short on each try. No, it wasn't the unwanted sympathy he had been getting from every other person, including strangers down the street. It wasn't even anger or resentment. Although, on second thought, there was no reason for Joan to be upset with him. Then, why could he not put a finger to this unsettling feeling refusing to leave his side?

The day he was scheduled to be back as the head of Tech Ops, he decided it was time to muster up all his courage and settle this unaddressed tension.

"Joan, is everything alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"Between us?"

He had known Joan was never one for answering vague questions. She had a legitimate fear of revealing too much information in the process. "You are back on the job. We do not have grudges as far as I can recall. What are you asking?"

She was not having any of his dancing around the inevitable. Either he came to the point or she would drag the point out of him.

"You seem concerned, for the lack of a better word, when you are around me. I cannot exactly tell given I don't have visual cues to my disposal". He was hoping she would appreciate the weak joke but his remark was met with an awkward pause.

"You are partly right. I am not angry. I am saddened. This has nothing to do with you being blind, mind you. But, this has everything to do with the way you handled things with another one of my operatives. I am sure I can keep my emotions at bay. I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable".

He could take a hint. Auggie had not asked a single question about Annie's whereabouts. He knew she was scheduled to be back but wasn't. And that was the end of it. He didn't find a reason to look into her file even though he had the clearance level to stalk her full time. He hadn't even mentioned her name since "the incident".

The minute Annie left the rehab facility, Auggie realized she may have had some pressing news to tell. But, he pushed the thought away to his unconscious. He had gotten what he wanted and he could not undo the damage now. Truth be told, he wasn't willing either. Solitude was his only friend. Yes, there was the occasional one night stand with a woman he picked up at the tavern. But, this new lifestyle of his would never allow for the family dream he once had. He had made peace with his decisions and Joan was not helping subtly slipping Annie into the conversation.

"How is she?" The words came out before he had a chance to think them through.

"She's doing well. She's happy. She hasn't asked for you in some time. I am here when you're ready". Joan gave him one get-back-to-work cough and he was out within seconds. As tempting as the offer to dig down Annie's new life sounded, he wanted nothing more that to put it off to the distant future. He had stopped taking calls from his mother asking of Annie each time they spoke. In fact, his only connection with Glencoe was through his brother John who made small talk every Friday over the phone.

What would he tell them? How would he explain the mess he made with Annie? Would they even believe that he didn't love her? Hell, even he didn't believe that lie. He had tried to put up an elaborate charade so that his conscience would shut up about it all being wrong. The woman who came home with him from Allen's months ago, somehow reminded him he was still human. That he wasn't lost in a guilt trip after having pushed away the one person who kept him grounded.

It was time to adjust to a life without Annie. It was time to immerse him energy back in the job; all while trying to avoid cross paths with his past. But, his luck would run out eventually.

Summer 2013 Washington D.C.

Joan had called Auggie out to the bullpen for what sounded like an urgent matter. When she described the op to him, however, nothing about it sounded as serious as he expected. A deep cover operative living as a linguistics professor with the University of Maryland, had not delivered the intel as scheduled one day ago. "A delay of this kind could have serious consequences for national security. But, most of all, I am worried for the safety of my operative". Joan had a sly smile on throughout the briefing. Not that Auggie could see it but he had sensed something was off about the mission. Why was he being summoned to complete this otherwise simple brush pass. Yes, he had requested to go out in to the field for the nth time today but, it wasn't like Joan to give in to his charm. Among other strange this that popped out of the file, he noticed he was not given a name to work with. If only he had connected the dots in time, linguistics professor, army brat, past cover with the Smithsonian? No, it couldn't be. Joan had promised him she would reveal everything only when he was ready. And he hadn't asked.

"She will be in her D.C. residence for one week before the family flies back to Maryland. The house has three occupants one adult woman (that's our operative) and two minors. This should be a quick interaction. Collect the documents, make sure of their safety and get out fast".

The mention of two kids had diverted his brain from think too hard about Annie. The doubts would hopefully be cleared soon.

Originally posted by: SHINYSHREYA

Yaayy... I am first.

Awesome update, Di.

Very interesting.