A/N: This is probably one of the longest stories I've written here. Which is sad. As always, please let me know if anything doesn't sound quite right because it doesn't have a Beta! Please enjoy!
Summary: Annie learns just how independent Auggie is. Five times Auggie was independent and one time he needed help.

Disclaimer: I'm not making money, don't own anything except for my words.

Auggie swept his cane once more in front of him and settled in his place in line. The intoxicating smell of black coffee and sweet cinnamon hijacked his senses for a moment, narrowing his world to a picturesque scene of a quaint little coffee shop, the colors too bright and sharp to be anything akin to the reality he knew to be true.

Relaxing into the atmosphere, his senses automatically catalogued his surroundings. A young couple a few customers ahead quietly bickered about wall paint colors. A little girl directly in front of him chattered happily to her half-listening mother who gave a short "mmm" or "oh?" every time the stream of sound paused expectantly for an answer. Auggie smiled as the little girl's excited voice began anew.

However, his senses picked up something not quite right a little to the right behind him in line. Two men were speaking in hushed, calm voices. Somehow the lack of modulation of the voices, calm and nearly emotionless, put Auggie on edge. His Special Ops training took over, now sharp and very aware, blocking out everything else in order to hone in on the two voices.

"Frankie, this is a stupid place. There's way too much natural light. Are you sure you don't want to try the tavern down the block?" Not only was there no emotion, there was no intonation in the voice. It was completely monotone. Auggie's hackles rose further.

"Nah. Besides, look at these people. They'd make good, healthy sacrifices. Most everyone here is below thirty. Lookit the kiddie, right there behind that lady with the poodle bag. She's a beauty, perfect for our mission." Identical tone leeched of emotion. Auggie's body instinctively edged toward the little girl, his head still faced forward. These guys were worse than normal perps. These guys were crazy and about to do something involving sacrifice.

Auggie opened his mouth to voice a warning, or at the very least try and determine if anyone else had heard what the two men were alluding to when his voice box froze at the cocking of a gun muffled by fabric. In that split second Captain Anderson took over. Deftly dodging the people around him, Auggie closed in on where the two men were still quietly conversing. Faking a stumble, Auggie collided with one of the men lightly enough not to dislodge the gun but hard enough to grab his attention. Plastering on his widest most innocent smile, Auggie glanced up at the men.

"Ah, I am so sorry!" Cue rueful chuckle. "I think I dropped my wallet and it's so crowded in here. Do you happen to see a brown leather wallet on the ground anywhere?" Add pitiful look.

Grunting irritably, the first signs of emotion creeping in, he gave a withering glance that was lost on Auggie. "We ain't seen no wallet buddy, why doncha look for yerself."

"Ah, but you see…" Auggie waved his hands dramatically in front of his face. And was greeted by a cold muzzle under his shirt pressing into the lower ribs on his right side. His body reacted the only way it knew how.

Planting an iron grip on the gun with his left hand, he crashed his other fist into the gun toting man hoping it was Frankie. His fist missed the cheek and nailed the nose head on. Auggie silently thanked his blindness. Blood gushed over his knuckles. The man, clearly not expecting a guy with a gun pressed to his side to fight back, much less a blind man, crumpled backwards his nose making a sick snap and then gun releasing a shot clipping Auggie's shoulder. The shot left Auggie disoriented, his eardrums vibrating painfully. Robbed of his main sense, Auggie grasped the last memory of the other man's position and hurtled himself at the body.

His world now silent, gravity drawing them downward, he barely had time to orient himself before his head exploded with sounds; bones cracking, metallic scents consuming the cinnamon, screams, frantic footsteps, a man frantically taking in air and suddenly going limp. The throbbing of his shoulder and knuckles dominated, something crawling slowly down his arm, and suddenly the deafening and all consuming silence. Special Ops Auggie took all these observations and translated them one by one. Two subjects passed out from lack of air. Broken facial bones, blood trickling from wounds. No civilians in the immediate vicinity which included, to Auggie's immense relief, the small little girl. Panting, he felt like he'd run a marathon at a sprint.

He was still sitting there, knees screaming for relief, when the police drove up an eternity and a half later. He had counted.

"Sir, are you hurt? Sir, what happened? Sir, how did you overpower them? Sir?" The endless barrage of calm questions, some self-explanatory and some not, washed over him and he answered equally calmly. "I don't know. I heard a gun. I rushed them."

It was only then, belatedly, that he realized he'd lost his cane sometime during the brawl. It was also then that it dawned on the police that this man was blind.

After more exclamations that were more awed statement than question, Joan was contacted (though for the life of Auggie he couldn't remember who had actually called Joan). Auggie was led to an ambulance to wait for Joan. It was also possible it was because he was bleeding out, but that might have been secondary.

CA*CA*CA*CA*CA*CA

"Auggie," a soft hand and an even softer voice touched Auggie. Joan. Joan was here. Joan would take care of this.

"Joan." It was more of a breath than a word. The scent of grapefruit crept by his nose. "Annie…?" Annie was here. Why was Annie here? His brain felt like it was surrounded by a sticky fog, clogging synapses and making his thoughts chase each other.

A body latched onto him, robbing the air out of his lungs, arms comedically thrown around his neck effectively choking him off from voicing any of his other muddled thoughts. An involuntary pained gasp escaped his lips caused a sudden release and he could feel abandoned warm tears seeping into his thin undershirt. A soft slap to his knee jerked his focus to Annie.

"Auggie, what were you thinking?" Annie whispered hoarsely, barely penetrating his hazy brain.

"Yes, Auggie, I'd like to hear your story as well," Joan rubbed his arm in small circles, the only emotional show that didn't match her business-like tone.

So Auggie explained the events, akin to an official debriefing from the moment he entered the coffee shop up until the brawl. He focused on the little girl's happy-go-lucky voice, the cute voiced barista working that day, and the fact that they were safe. That's when the events bled together and mixed in his brain. After he fell silent he could hear Annie's eyes widen as she processed his story.

A pause filled with silence and dread coiled inside Auggie. A breath.

"Auggie, you're like a superhero," Annie declared matter-of-factly. "Supersonic Spook."

Caught off guard, Auggie let out such a loud chuckle it startled the paramedic dabbing at his arm gingerly stabbing the tender flesh of his shoulder in the process. But even that couldn't erase the grin off his face. Such an innocent declaration had a numbing effect on Auggie. Even Joan sniggered quietly.

"Why Kitten Heels, you have exposed my secret identity!" Auggie mock scowled. Annie shoved him playfully, sending white hot fire down his arm, throwing him into reality.

"You're gonna need stitches. I can't do 'um here," the paramedic proclaimed, effectively sucking the lightness out of the air like snuffing out a candle. Another moment's silence.

Auggie nodded at the paramedic and reached for Annie, squeezing her hand lightly and treating her to a blissful grin. "C'mon, Kitten Heels, let's fight some dastardly crime in the E.R."

"Can't you just fly there with your superhero jet pack?" Annie teased, looping her arm through Auggie's good one a smile tugging at her lips. Turning away from the ambulance, Annie tugged Auggie along beside her relishing the warmth and aliveness coming from him.

"I don't want to see either of you tomorrow," Joan said, startling both Annie and Auggie and reminding them of her presence. Joan sent Annie a knowing look across Auggie's chest. Annie raised her eyebrows and gave a small nod of acknowledgement. Message received and understood.

"Hey, no telepathic communication with an ESP-lacking individual!" Auggie whined.

"Sorry, Supersonic Spook," Annie patted his hand. "You can't be amazing at everything."