a/n: Something that's been bouncing around in my head for a while. I figure I should write it down for you all to read and enjoy. Hope you like this little oneshot. Thanks for reading and please please review!

I don't own Covert Affairs.

Updated June 6, 2012: Minor grammar/content changes.

Updated June 7, 2012: Sorta forgot about Danielle...oh awk :P better fix that!

Updated June 9, 2012: Gave Annie's mom Auggie's last name..I really need to proof read more often!

Vulnerable

Auggie tossed and turned in his large bed. He was lying awake at the ungodly hour of three in the morning. The sheets were twisted around his boxer-clad body and he was drenched in a cold sweat. He was exhausted and cranky.

He tried to fall asleep again, and gave a frustrated sigh when he was unsuccessful. The blind agent would like nothing more than to fall back asleep and dream peacefully. But he couldn't. This was the third nightmare in the past three nights that had woken him from an otherwise peaceful sleep. The nightmare was always the same scene; the scene of the bombing which caused his blindness. The scene was an explosion of color in his mind's eye. He could recall every terrifying image with perfect detail. The weird thing about the dreams, however, was that they were silent. It was as if someone had clicked the mute button in his head. The images were crisp and stunning but completely void of any and all sounds. A gun would fire without any sound. Auggie would watch in horror as his fallen brothers would silently scream out his name. He couldn't hear their voices as they died in his arms.

And then the bomb would go off. Sometimes quickly, sometimes in slow motion. A silent explosion of dust and death.

Everything would go black.

And Auggie would wake up.

Auggie had mentioned the sleep problems and the nightmare to Annie earlier that day and she nearly begged him to call her if he had another one. But Auggie felt bad waking her up this early in the morning for something silly. But, then again, he did promise. And she would kill him if she found out he had a nightmare and didn't call her.

So, with that in mind, Auggie picked up his cell phone from the bedside table and dialed.

The phone rang several times before a very sleepy Annie answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Annie. It's me. Auggie."

"Oh, Auggie. Hey. What's up? Is something wrong?"

Auggie rubbed his eyes with one hand. The other cradled his phone against his cheek.

"There's nothing wrong, so to speak. Well… I… I had another nightmare."

Suddenly, this seemed ridiculous; he shouldn't have called her. He shouldn't have called her and bothered her and woken her up at three in the freaking morning for his silly nightmare problem. He felt very much like a child.

Her voice was caring and kind, just as he expected it to be, "Oh, Aug. I'm so sorry. Was it the same one as before?"

"Yeah," Auggie sighed.

He ran his free hand through his messy brown hair. He felt stupid. He hated admitting his weaknesses.

"Would you like me to stay up with you a little while?"

"I'm sorry to wake you, Annie. I feel bad. It's silly for me to be worried about a nightmare like a child."

"It's okay; I'm glad you woke me up. Don't worry about feeling silly. If someone has a nightmare, talking about it helps sometimes. I know that helps for me."

Auggie could hear Annie's sheets rustle as she moved in her bed.

"It's not the nightmare that bothers me, Annie." Auggie sighed again, "It's just...it's all I see now. I can't think of anything else. I wish I could think of another memory. Any memory. I've tried, but everything comes back to this."

"Everything will be okay," she reassured him, "It's all in the past."

Auggie shook his head.

"I feel like a completely different person. Memories shape a person…I hate reliving these scenes. What if … What they change me? They changed me before, what if it happens again? What if—"

"Auggie," Annie interrupted him sharply, "Don't you ever think that. You're my partner. You're my Auggie. Memories of your past or not, I'll never feel any different about you."

"Okay. Thank you," He smiled to himself, "That means a lot."

"You're welcome," He could practically hear her smile in her voice, "Anytime."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence that felt as easy as sleeping. Auggie could hear Annie's soft breathing through the phone. She was tired; it was obvious. But she was awake on the phone with him anyway because she truly cares about him.

Auggie then very quickly realized how exhausted he actually was. He rubbed at his sleepy eyes once again.

"Hey, Annie?"

"Mhm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

Auggie felt silly again, "Would you laugh terribly at me if I asked you to tell me a story?"

Annie giggled, "A story?"

"Yes, please. Something from you childhood. I don't care. It can be anything. It would just help me forget the nightmare."

"Aug, I'm not very good at telling stories. Just ask Katia and Chloe. I'm horrible at it. And my childhood isn't very exciting, so I have nothing to tell about."

Auggie didn't miss a beat.

"Then make one up."

Annie laughed. The cheery sound made Auggie smile once again.

"What?"

"Make one up. I want to hear one of your childhood memories; even if it isn't real."

"I'm not very good at making up stories, much less fake memories of my own life."

Auggie sighed.

"Oh, come on. Please? From when you were little, too little to properly remember anything yet. Just one normal memory. It doesn't have to be amazing or special."

"Any memory?"

"I'm not picky."

Auggie shut his eyes and curled the blankets around himself.

"Alright. You win. So it was Christmas Eve. And I was three years old. And my mother was trying to get me into my Christmas dress while—"

"You're mother?"

"Yes. My mother."

"What's her name?"

"Elise. Elise Walker. She has the same eyes as me. Her hair is a bit lighter blonde, though. She is tall and lean and always smells like lavender. I am very much her daughter."

"Elise is a beautiful name. I bet she is a lovely woman."

"She is. May I continue?"

"Please do."

"Okay, so being the stubbornly adorable child I was, I wanted nothing to do with the itchy Christmas dress. All the while my father—"

Auggie interrupted once again, "What's his name?"

"My dad? His name is Robert. He is tall and likes to play golf and watch football on TV in the fall. He loves steak and pasta and would eat mountains of it if he could. He works out six days a week. He smokes cigars every once and a while, which makes all this clothes smell woodsy and manly."

Auggie nodded, "He sounds like a good father."

"Yes, he is," Annie replied with a soft yawn, "Back to the story?"

"Yes. Please keep going."

"Okay. So my father was frustrated because he was trying to get the lights on the tree to work."

Auggie smiled. He painted the picture in his mind.

"Pesky things, those damn Christmas lights."

"Yes, they are," Annie chuckled, "So my dad finally got the lights to work. And I finally gave in to my mother with the dress. Danielle and I were loaded into the car with my parents to go to my grandparent's house; that's where we spent every Christmas Eve. And before you ask, their names are Charlotte and Henry. They are my mother's parents. So we got to my grandparent's house and—"

"What did it smell like?"

"…What?"

"The house, Annie. What did it smell like?"

"Oh. The house. Umm, gingerbread and pine. They always got a real tree. My parents and I were the first ones to the house and my grandmother immediately stole me and Danielle away into the kitchen to—"

"Wait, wait. First ones? Who else is coming?"

"My aunt and her husband, of course."

"Yes. My mother's sister Annabelle and her husband Michel. My aunt looks more like my grandfather though, with red-ish brown hair, bright green eyes, and a cute button nose. Anyways, before interrupted, Danielle and I were stolen into the kitchen, being the only grandchildren and all. She let us eat gingerbread cookies while our parents and grandfather sat in the living room and played cards and talked."

Auggie laughed out loud. He imagined it playing out in his mind.

"So then, my aunt and uncle showed up a few hours later with our gifts. The only one I had the attention span to open was a teddy bear. It was massive; as big as I was. It was my first true love. Before the night was over, I had fallen asleep on top of it in the middle of the living room floor. Adorable, really. So, my father finally scooped me up around eleven-thirty and put me and a sleeping Danielle into the car while my mother tried desperately to find the shoes we had flung off the second we walked through the door. So, yeah, that's the end of the story."

Auggie chuckled, "Thanks, Annie."

"Anytime, honey."

He was almost asleep. He could feel it creeping up on him. His eyes were closed.

"I mean it. You don't know how much this means to me. What you did," He yawned before continuing, "I like imagining you as a child."

"I'm glad," Annie yawned in response.

"Night, Annie."

"Good night, Auggie. Sleep well."