Agnes 6

Author's Note: Still enjoying writing this. I really believe the Samar thing was not a one-time thing.

I have another one-shot (which may or may not stay one) called Ressler, Listen To Me you should check out.

Please leave a review.

EEEEEEEEE

Agnes jumped from sprinkler to sprinkler on the splash pad laughing as the water came rushing out at the kids and, if they put their foot over it, it went in all kinds of different directions. Don watched as she and three other girls from her dance class giggled and ran around with her.

"Thanks for arranging this, Heather," Don said as he turned to the mom sitting at the picnic table next to him. "Agnes is having fun."

"It must be hard for you," Heather said.

Don swallowed hard. As much as he appreciated the play date for Agnes, he didn't appreciate the moms trying to get information from him about Liz.

"It's fine," Don said with a shrug.

"To go from being a bachelor to a caregiver overnight…" Heather said as she looked at the other woman, Megan, sitting at the table nodding along with her.

Don smiled at Agnes laughing and running through the cold water. He was sad she was spending the rest of the school year at the post office, not the best environment for a child, but necessary as no other arrangements could be made for only a few weeks. But, next week, she would start camp and be outside almost all day and, Don knew, that would be good for her.

"Don?" Megan asked.

"Huh?" Don asked, not sure what had been asked of him.

"We asked how Liz was doing," Megan smiled at him.

"Good," Don said non-committally. "She's good."

Both women nodded and exchanged looks.

"Is she calling Agnes and you, or completely…gone?" Heather asked.

Don cleared his throat. No one outside of the task force really knew what was going on, just that Liz had left on personal business and he had Agnes.

"We better get them over for snacks," Don said as he stood and grabbed a towel for Agnes walking toward the kids running through the sprinklers.

Over his shoulder he heard Megan say, "well, he does work for the FBI, he's not just going to tell us."

"Agnes!" Don called. "Come and bring the girls for snack."

Agnes nodded and called her friends. Don tried to remember their names. The twins were Lola and Zoe and Heather's girl was…Keeley.

Don smiled, proud of himself for remembering their names. Liz had been gone almost a month and Don and Agnes had got a lot more comfortable with each other. She still threw the occasional tantrum, but he was far better at handling them. He still got frustrated with her slow poke walking when they had to go to a store, but learned that if he made it more of a 'hunt' for an item she seemed to pick up the pace. And, as a cookie making compromise they had found Pilsbury pre-made cookies that she just needed to form for them to bake and it saved his kitchen the mess that came with making cookies from scratch.

Agnes ran to the towel he was holding open, and he wrapped her up in it.

"The water cold?" Don asked her as she shivered and nodded.

"Come eat some watermelon," Don said as he walked her back to the group.

The girls sat at the table wrapped in towels while the moms got all the food out and the spread was quite impressive. Don's contribution had been watermelon, pre-cut, that they had picked up on the way here. But Heather and Megan had made a fruit salad, cookies, cheese cubes with crackers, and had a bunch of containers with cut up carrots, peppers and cucumber. Don realized that he needed to up his game for the next play visit and not just show up with cut up watermelon saran wrapped on a Styrofoam tray.

The girls dug into the food and Don grabbed a few cheese cubes and popped them into his mouth one at a time.

"I was wondering if Agnes wanted to come for a sleepover with Zoe and Lola?" Megan asked Don.

Don looked down at Agnes, she seemed kind of young for a sleepover and had actually wet the bed twice in the last month, he wasn't sure she was ready for a sleepover, nor was it safe.

"Uh, I'm thinking we need to run that past Liz," Don said.

"Oh, so you do speak with her?" Heather jumped on that.

Don cleared his throat.

"Okay, well, it was just a thought," Megan said.

"I'm not saying no," Don said. "I'm just saying with Agnes there are other concerns and I'm not sure…"

Megan nodded. "I get it."

Don took a deep breath an popped another cheese cube into his mouth.

"So, I heard you talking with Agnes about camp?" Heather asked.

"Yeah, I've got her in a few of them for the summer," Don said. "I only have 3 weeks I can take during the summer, so I needed somewhere for her to be where she'd have fun."

"Did you enroll her in ballet camp?" Heather asked.

"Yeah, I think the third week in July?" Don asked as he pulled out his phone and looked at the calendar. "Yeah, the last week before I'm on two weeks vacation with her."

Don noticed a missed call on the app from Liz that came in just fifteen minutes ago, he must have missed it vibrating.

"Are you two going anywhere for your two weeks off?"

"I've been…" Don said distractedly, wondering if he should call her back now, if it was important. "…looking at a few options."

"Don't do Disney in the summer," Megan said. "It's ridiculously hot in Florida and a madhouse. We went one year in August and regretted every minute in that steam bath."

Don looked at the text: Can you talk? Scary lapdogs

Don chuckled.

"Yeah, I hadn't even thought about Disney," Don admitted as he still considered whether to call her. It didn't sound urgent, but he never really would know unless he called.

"A cruise?" Heather inquired.

"Huh?" Don asked as he looked up from his phone.

"A cruise with Agnes?" Heather asked.

"I don't do well on water," Don said. "Uh, excuse me for a moment."

Don stepped away from the group and hit the call button.

"Hey, are you guys busy?" Liz asked him as her face filled the screen.

"We're at the park on a playdate," Don said with a smirk. "And apparently I suck at snack."

"Who is it with?" Liz asked.

"The twins Zoe and Lola and Keeley from ballet," Don said as he looked back at the group and noted that Agnes was happily eating a second piece of the watermelon he brought. Maybe he didn't suck at snack?

"Those moms grilling you?" Liz asked.

"How did you know?" Don asked, surprised.

"Because that's what they're like," Liz sighed. "Always nice, really nice, but trying to pump you for information."

Don raised an eyebrow she was dead on.

"You want to talk with Agnes?" He asked.

"No, don't steal her away from her friends," Liz said. "Will you be home later?"

"Yeah, by supper," Don said. "Megan wants Agnes to go for a sleepover but I'm not sure about…"

"She's done sleepovers before, but with Townsend…"

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Don nodded. "How are you?"

"Good, settled here for a bit, gathering intel," Liz said. She never told him where she was, but from the looks of the apartment behind her, his guess was Eastern Europe.

She smiled at him and sighed.

"Like the scary lapdogs?" Liz chuckled.

"Technically you aren't the only one who knows that," Don said. "My mom does, so does Navabi."

"Samar knows about the hate-on you have for yappy dogs?" Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, we talked about it once," Don said.

Liz swallowed hard. As much as she married and had a child with Tom, Don sleeping with Samar had hurt her. It was ridiculous, of course, as she was not even with him at the time and had no right to tell him who he could and could not sleep with. Part of her always wondered if he slept with Samar to get back at her for Tom.

"Can I ask you a question without you getting mad?" Liz asked.

"Liz, usually when someone says that it means the other person is really not going to like the question," Don said, half-knowing where this was going. She had always had a sore spot for what happened between him and Samar.

"Samar…" Liz started, and Don groaned.

"Liz…"

"Fine, I won't ask," Liz said, annoyed.

Don sighed.

"Fine, ask," he said.

"No, I…"

"Now or never Keen," Don warned her.

Liz met his eyes.

"It was a few times?" Liz asked.

"Yes," Don answered honestly.

"Did you…this is going to sound incredibly egotistical, but did you choose Samar to get back at me for Tom?" Liz asked, uncomfortable.

"No," Don said. "Not overtly, but the psychologist in you must know that there may have been something underneath it all."

Liz nodded.

"So, why Samar?" Liz asked.

Don sighed and turned red. He shifted and looked away from her then back at her.

"Liz, I don't think we should…"

Liz swallowed hard. This was more than a few one-night stands. If it was nothing then he would have just said that. If it was nothing then he wouldn't look like he wanted to be anywhere but in this conversation. Liz cursed herself for needing to know, it was childish but something that haunted her and that they had never discussed. Was now, while he was at a play date in a park with Agnes and she was across an ocean away that time? Probably not. But she had started this conversation and they needed to see it through and never discuss it again.

"Fine," Liz said, a little edge to her voice.

Don looked over at Agnes happily laughing with her friends and then looked back at Liz.

"She was sexy, and it was just…easy," Don said as he met her eyes. "No ulterior motives, no questioning, no strings. We had fun and no one, well, until I fired her, got hurt. It was what we both needed. We both needed to not feel alone, and to let loose a little. To see if there was anything to the sexual tension between us. In the end, it was just sex, Liz."

Liz swallowed hard and nodded.

"Happy you have your answers?" Don asked her, a little done with the line of questioning.

Liz nodded; she still felt the sting of his admissions.

"Do you wish this…you and me… was easy?" Liz asked him.

Don smiled at her and chuckled.

"Easy is too easy," Don said as his smile grew. "I like that you are a challenge."

He winked at her and she smiled at him.

"Liz, at that time in my life, I needed exactly that," Don said. "You were with Tom, moving on, and I needed to as well. And at this time in my life, I need something different. I need you and I need Agnes."

Liz nodded and smiled at him.

"Okay?" He asked.

"Okay," she smiled at him.

She wondered why he never really asked her about Tom, was she more insecure or jealous than Don? She had loved the man, married him, had a child with him, grieved him. He had only slept with Samar a handful of times and they had ended it, gone on to be friends, and left what happened between them in the past. And yet she needed to know this information. He didn't. Liz would have to ask him about that one day, but today wasn't it. They had touched on enough delicate subjects for one conversation. She had made him uncomfortable and she was sorry for that, but happy they had cleared the air about Samar.

"I better head back to Cagney and Lacey," Don chuckled as he noticed Agnes and the other kids were starting to climb all over the picnic table.

"Good luck," Liz smiled at him. "And Don…"

"Yeah?" Don asked.

"Are we…okay? I didn't upset…"

"We're good Liz," Don said. "I just like looking forward and not back."

Liz nodded.

"We've both made mistakes," Don said as he looked at her with his beautiful clear eyes. "We've made choices the other didn't agree with. We have hurt each other, in the past."

Liz swallowed hard and nodded.

"If we dwell on that, then we're going to spend all of our time trying to make the past right," Don said. "I prefer to just enjoy what we have now. Because, despite you being away from me…this past year has been amazing with you and, and, I look forward to many more ahead of us."

"I do too," Liz nodded as she wiped at a stray tear that fell.

"Call after supper and you can visit with Agnes," Don said.

"Okay, enjoy the rest of the afternoon," Liz said.

Don smiled and hung up the phone.

He walked back toward the table and looked at all the empty food containers.

"Wow, you ladies enjoyed your snack," Don said with a smile at the little girls.

The giggled.

"Sorry about that," Don said to the two moms. "Work."

To be continued…