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Chapter 7

Stiles was beyond angry when he saw his boss. He stormed into Quinn's office, grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to office wall-and put his index finger very close to Quinn's face.

"You're lucky I don't kill you right here."

Quinn, cool as ever, reminded Stiles that they were in a glass room surrounded by watchful eyes. Stiles turned around and saw that all eyes were indeed on him. He released Quinn and started over.

"How could you let this happen? They shot her then carried her off to who knows where. She's probably out of the state by now and will be on her way to Korea soon. That is if the bullet she took hasn't already kill her. Or if the next one they use doesn't. She is one of your best agents. How dare you!"

Quinn was all about Quinn.

"Mr. Stiles, I have 12 years invested in my relationship with the North Koreans. More importantly, I have over 30 years invested in the service of my country. We need this relationship at whatever cost. I'll send someone to Korea to look for her."

Quinn gave Stiles one of his trademark sideways glances and continued, "Haven't you read the news lately? Things are heating up in Korea."

"I want to be the one to get her out."

Quinn ignored Stiles' comment.

"Agent Shelton called. It seems that you and Mr. Nankin had some sort of disagreement?"

"I don't want to talk about him. What about Terri?" Stiles repeated his earlier request though it was stated more as a demand.

"I want to be the one to get her out."

"I'm two steps ahead of you. I've assigned Johnson, Mattingly, and George. They leave Friday morning."

"That's two days from now. She's my wife. I should be the one to go. I could-"

"You could what, Mr. Stiles? I seriously doubt our Korean friends would be silly enough to hop on a plane from Virginia tonight, or even tomorrow. They know the FBI was close and of course, they know we are after them as well. No, Mr. Stiles, we'll do this my way or not at all."

Stiles was furious. "I can't believe-"

Quinn cut him off again. "Mr. Stiles, you are entirely too emotional about this. I cannot have you traipsing all over Korea looking for your wife. What are you going to do, pin the Koreans to the nearest wall to get them to talk?"

Terri was gone. She'd been shot, and he had no idea if she was even alive. If she was, she would soon end up in Korea. All the while, he was arguing with the egomaniac that cared more about his own agenda than any of the people hired to carry it out. Stiles seriously considered going to Korea himself. Terri was his life and she was carrying his child. He promised he would always be there for her. He had no idea what to do. He had no idea if he would ever see her again.

Quinn was standing at his door. He opened it and motioned for Stiles to leave.

"Go home Mr. Stiles. As of right now, you are on vacation. I'll be in contact when there is something to report."

Stiles wanted to protest, but knew it was futile. He decided to leave. But he didn't leave Langley.

Stiles could not accept Quinn's plan so he sought a second opinion from Gage. He found him in Carl's office. Though Gage feigned ignorance of Joshua and Quinn's activity, He wasn't about to let Stiles go to Korea; there was too much at stake. Within a few minutes Stiles received the same, although more sympathetic response. "Go home. Let us handle it."

Stiles walked slowly to the garage defeated, torturing himself with questions, 'Did I try hard enough? Will she think I'm not trying to find her?' He then tried to remember the last conversation they had, but he couldn't. He could not remember the last thing he said to her, the last thing she said to him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember what might have been their last conversation. Stiles would spend the night in his home for the first time without his wife. He was exhausted when he got there, both physically and emotionally. So much so, that he didn't even make it past the living room couch. He sat down, put his face in his hands. He was scared. He was scared for Terri and he was scared for himself-scared that he would never see her again. For the first time in his adult life, A.B. Stiles cried himself to sleep.