Disclaimer: The main characters in the story were developed by the creators of The Agency and are owned by Radiant Productions.

Chapter 2

Helen, who volunteered to house sit for Terri since her own husband was away, told the newlyweds that they had received a number of gifts while they were in France. She wasn't exaggerating. The entire living room was filled. Terri barely stopped to put down her bags before examining the presents. Helen handed her one that she was eager to see.

"Here honey, open this one."

"Why, what is it?"

"I think it's the video from the wedding. Look it's in a nice leather case with your initials on it."

"Mom! You opened our presents?

"Of course not. The videographer brought it over himself."

Stiles took the case from Helen. "Wow, this does look nice. He works fast. Shall we watch?"

Helen cleared a space for herself on the couch. She had been chomping at the bit to see herself on camera. Everyone told her how fabulous she looked at the wedding and she couldn't wait to see herself in action. Terri, whose back was to her mother, rolled her eyes and put the disc in the player. Stiles sat on the couch next to Helen and smiled at them both. He began to imagine what it would be like when he and Terri had a daughter.

When everyone was settled, Stiles started the video. There was a nice musical interlude before the images popped in.

"Oh, I can't wait to see you two. . . ."

Before Helen got the words out of her mouth, Terri and Stiles appeared on screen, except, they weren't at their wedding. Helen gasped.

"Oh my!"

The couple was paying more attention to each other than to the television until Helen screamed. When they looked up, they got an eyeful of themselves making out on the boat in Nice. Terri practically ripped Stiles hand off trying to get to the remote, causing him to drop it. While the two of them wrestled for the remote, Helen covered her face.

Every now and then Helen would peak to see if the "real" video had started. By the time Terri finally found the remote, Helen was getting a close-up of Stiles removing her daughter's bikini top.

"Theresa!"

Terri had no idea what to say. "Mom, I. . ." She stopped and turned to Stiles for help, but he was more amused than upset; he had fond memories of that night almost two years ago. "I'm sorry Helen. I don't know how. .. "

Terri needn't have worried. Helen took a deep breath, "Well, I could have done with out seeing that, but you are married now. Anyway, I should go. You're father's coming home this evening from his conference. Besides, I get the feeling that A.B. wants to see the rest of that." Helen smiled as she winked at Stiles and patted his face. She kissed her daughter goodbye and headed for the door. As she neared the expressway, Helen had a thought, 'why were there cameras on that boat?'

Back inside the house, Stiles was laughing at Helen's "discovery" and Terri was pacing trying to figure out what had just happened.

"I can't believe my mother saw that! How on earth did our videographer get a hold of that tape?"

"Lex!" they yelled simultaneously.

"He saved it? It's bad enough that he and who knows whom else saw it in the first place, but for him to save it and send it to us. Stiles, he added music. Do you have any idea how many times he must have watched this?!" All of Terri's initial embarrassment about being caught on camera came flooding back. She started trying to calculate how many of the men in the office had seen her naked.

"Honey, it's okay. I'm sure he just held onto it thinking it would be a fun reminder of how we got together, so to speak." Terri made a face.

"I can't believe you find this funny. My mother saw . . ."

"Your mother didn't see anything. Like she said, we're married. She wants to be a grandmother, she expects us to have sex and she has no idea that wasn't our honeymoon." Stiles walked over to Terri who was now on the couch pouting with her arms clenched across her chest. He gently lifted her chin. She couldn't help but smile when he looked at her with his clear gray eyes and smiled.

"I know I'm overreacting. It's just my mother, of all people, didn't need to see that."

"Well, Mrs. Stiles, what can I do to cheer you up?"

Terri thought for a moment then smiled seductively and motioned for him to follow her upstairs. "Oh, I don't know, maybe we could christen the new bed." Stiles took her hand and started upstairs. Before they reached the landing, his cell phone rang. Terri reached for Stiles pocket the same time he did and began nibbling his earlobe. "You don't have to answer it; we're not here for two more days."

Stiles was thoroughly enjoying being seduced by his bride, but duty called. He tried to talk while lightly kissing her back, "Um, Terri, honey-"

She stopped his words with a kiss. When they finally came up for air, Stiles gently pulled Terri's arms from his waist and looked at his phone. "Quinn. He knows we're home." Terri, determined that he wasn't going anywhere, began running her fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck. As he tried to answer the phone, she blew in his ear and whispered, "Don't answer it." Stiles tried to maintain his composure as Terri kept kissing him. "Stiles."

"Ah, Mr. Stiles, I trust you had a nice vacation."

Stiles didn't get a chance to respond before Terri's phone rang.

She finally stopped kissing him and went to get her phone knowing it must really be important.

Terri's and Stiles' honeymoon really was over though Stiles made a weak attempt to convince Quinn that he wasn't really needed in the office. "Uh, I won't be back in the office until Wednesday."

"No, Mr. Stiles, I'm afraid you'll be coming in tomorrow morning. You and Ms. Lowell, excuse me, Mrs. Stiles have a meeting in the Director's conference room at 0700 tomorrow. I trust your presence won't be a problem." Quinn's last remark turned out to be more of a statement than a question. Before Stiles could reply, Quinn was gone. Terri was getting the same message from Lex who'd tried to warn them Quinn may be calling.

Director Gage stood at the head of the conference table outlining the latest mission. Robert Quinn, Carl Reese, and representatives from the FBI and the Department of Defense were also present.

Several anti-U.S. terror plots had been suspected in Liberia. Gage wanted more eyes and ears in the area; the locals were pretty sure they were close to uncovering the details of a plot involving an attack on U.S. soil. So Gage wanted Stiles, the head of the IRT, to fly in with one of the Marine divisions later that night.

Terri didn't hear much after that. She knew how volatile things had been in that country. She felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach; she was afraid that she was going to be sick. She couldn't even look at Stiles for fear that she would cry. Ever since he went missing that Thanksgiving, she had trouble sleeping when he went on an overseas mission without her.

Terri was pulled from her internal nightmare by the sound of her name.

"Lex, Mr. Haisley, and Mrs. Stiles may join Mr. Stiles in a couple of days depending on what is discovered."

When Quinn and Gage finished the briefing, everyone quickly filed out; there was a lot to do before Stiles left that evening. As usual, Terri and Stiles were among the last to leave. Terri was just leaving the room when Quinn spoke.

"Mr. Stiles, a word."

He and Terri looked at each other briefly before Stiles re-entered the room. Quinn wanted to have a private conversation with the head of his Incident Response Team.

While Carl and Gage knew all of the details of the mission, Quinn et al hadn't felt it prudent to divulge everything to the rest of the staff. They did, however, want Stiles fully informed.

Quinn told Stiles that besides the obvious dangers inherent in such a mission, the U.S. and CIA were still working on establishing local allies. "With the terror groups moving in, there is a great deal of uncertainty about who is with us and who is against us. One misstep and you could be exposed." Stiles nodded in compliance and answered with a simple, "Yes sir."

As Stiles made his way to the door, Quinn called him back one more time. "Mr. Stiles, as usual, this information was provided on a need-to-know basis and no one outside this room and your immediate team needs to know—including your wife."

*Terri* Stiles momentarily forgot that she wouldn't be with him. He was just ordered not to tell her what was really going on, but he couldn't leave with out telling her something. Now that they were married, he had to prepare her for the worst.