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CHAPTER II – The Mission

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During the ride, there wasn't much talking. Jackson was talking to Terri; they were getting to know about what had happened on the past six months. Lex was talking to Stiles, getting to know him.

When they got to the airport, Stiles asked Lex a little about Terri.

"Is she always like this or is it just me?" he asked in a low voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I get the feeling she doesn't like me."

"Well, maybe it's because you told her she was responsible for Matt's death. Or maybe because you were so impatient in the garage. You know, women do take their time packing."

"How do you know about my conversation with her about Matt's death?"

"Well, she not-so-happily told Joshua about it and he told me."

"Words fly in here."

"Well, in OTS we're a family. I'm like her brother and Joshua is like our father. Get used to it." Lex started working on the laptop.

==============================================================================

On the plane, Stiles decided he should talk to Terri.

"Listen, I know we haven't been best friends since we've met, but we are going on mission here and I'd like to come back alive, and honestly I think you'd like so too. So, let's just put that behind us, okay? I'm sorry I said those things."

Terri was a bit surprised by this sudden apology, but accepted them. "I think once we get past this animosity we'll be able to work together."

"Friends?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Tell you what - colleagues for now. We'll see where that leads."

She shook his hand and he laughed. It was only then she noticed his lovely eyes.

==============================================================================

Back at the Agency, Carl was keeping Tom Gage updated.

"Quinn's team is on their way to Nice. They should be arriving in a couple of hours."

"Haisley signed on?"

"Haisley, Terri Lowell, Stiles and Lex, from Information Technology."

"Lex who?"

"I don't know, Sir. I just know him as Lex."

==============================================================================

As they landed in France, Stiles and Joshua went to the apartment as Lex and Terri immediately went to the marina and installed cameras there. Quinn, who hadn't flown with them, was supposed to arrive in 20 minutes. Things had to be done by then.

After they were done, Lex and Terri headed to the apartment. Stiles and Terri got changed. They were supposed to be a couple, and they would be on vacation renting a boat. Quinn arrived about 3 minutes after things were ready.

"Well, we should start the operation." he started. "Mr. Stiles, Ms. Lowell, why don't you two go to the boat and start from there? I am going to inspect the marina. Lex, get ready." Quinn ordered.

"Yes, Sir." was everyone's response.

When they got on the boat, Terri took off her shirt and stood there wearing a lavender bikini. Stiles couldn't help but notice how gorgeous Terri looked.

"I'm going on the deck and sunbathe." Terri said. "Is the computer working in here?"

"Yes. I'm just waiting for Lex to turn on the cameras." he replied.

She walked to the deck and Stiles only watched her. "She does look amazing..." he said to himself. Then he decided he needed to focus only on the mission. "Don't mix work and personal relationships."

==============================================================================

Lex got the equipment ready. Jackson, who was on the balcony, got back inside. Then, Quinn walked in saying they were ready.

"Who do you like on the dock, Mr. Haisley?" Lex asked as he showed them the different angles on the marina.

"What about that girl over there on the left hand corner?" Quinn said.

Lex zoomed into the top left corner. It shows Terri lying in the boat, wearing a bikini and reading a magazine.

"Terri." Jackson is a little surprised by seeing Terri in this bikini. He's at a loss of words, and Quinn is admiring the view as well. Lex is the one who likes this the most, so he zooms in even more. Terri
can hear it all through the transmitter.

"Get back to work, boys." Terri replies once she notices how they've reacted.

Stiles, who not only can hear what's going on in the apartment but also see what they're seeing, enjoys the view as well. Terri goes to him.

"Well, we're on." she says.

"Yeah, I noticed." he replies as if nothing happened.

They see Sufiya and another man are going scuba diving. They confirm it's Sufiya, so Stiles asks Jackson to see if the U.S. fleet is doing port. He says he already did, they're not. He even checks again and confirms it.

As they've been spending some time together on this mission, Stiles decides to get to know Terri a little better. After a few harmless questions, he tries going a little further.

"Married?" he asks.

"Divorced."

"Oh."

"What's that mean?"

He thinks to himself. "That's it. I must ask her now." So, he turns to look at her and watch her reaction. "Were you sleeping with Callan when he got killed?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?!" She cannot believe him.

"When people get personally involved, it can affect their judgment. I just need to know what the stakes are."

"We weren't personally involved."

"Good."

When he said this, he made her think it was only mission-related, but deep down he was relieved she wasn't with Matt. Then, Polvon showed up at the marina. They couldn't believe it. Stiles wanted to take this man for two reasons - he murdered two CIA agents and he was worried about Terri.

"Stay here." He told her.

"You stay here." She said already leaving the boat.

He couldn't believe she was so stubborn, but he did like it. She jumped in front of Polvon, and he jumped on Polvon and beat the hell out of him.

"Well, that wasn't very elegant." Quinn said as he approached them.

As if they hadn't enough problems, the French police got to the marina looking for Quinn. They wanted him because he was a murder suspect. But they took them all - Quinn, Stiles, Terri and Polvon.

==============================================================================

Jackson and Lex left the apartment as soon as they could. About five minutes later, Magistrate Balcer and the policemen took their "prisoners" there. Polvon was sent to prison. A guard took Stiles and Terri to the bedroom, where they were supposed to be until the magistrate was finished talking with Quinn. Stiles decided to talk to Terri.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want anything?"

"No, it's okay. Thank you for being concerned." she replied.

==============================================================================

After a while, the magistrate released Terri and Stiles. They went to the backup site, and decide maybe they should go scuba diving and find out why Sufiya was diving so much. Terri went to get a glass of water, so she didn't see Stiles was going to change in the abandoned room (where the luggage was). She decided to change clothes and headed for the room. She walked in on Stiles as he was putting on the diving suit.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, covering her eyes and looking away. "I, I... I didn't know you were in here! God, I'm so sorry!" she never looked up to see him.

"It's okay, really. I was almost done, don't worry." Even though he was saying this, he was glad she wasn't looking at him in the eye because he was very embarrassed.

"I'll just come back after you're finished." she said closing the door.

Stiles walked out of the room a little after that, and neither of them could look at each other. Jackson zipped up his suit.

"I'm ready. Let's go." Stiles said to them all.

==============================================================================

He dove and learned that Sufiya was cutting off the iron bars of a pipe that leads to a prison. He and the others conclude Sufiya was going to try to set a prisoner free, but that's where maybe Polvon is
now so they might try to set him free instead.

"I'll go back to the apartment and see what I can find out."

"Be careful." Stiles and Jackson said this simultaneously and looked at each other.

"What is it with you?" Terri said as she left.

==============================================================================

About 40 minutes later, Terri comes back.

"Polvon is in that prison." Terri announced.

"How do you know that?" Lex asked.

"I flirted with the guard and he told me everything."

Stiles was a little annoyed by this, but he honestly didn't know why. "You always get what you want?" he asked her.

"What can I do if I'm this good?!" she said playfully.

Lex found out when to go in and how to do it if they were planning on bursting into the prison. After discussing the issue, they decided to do it. Stiles and Terri would dive together and he was going to go inside the pipe.

Meanwhile, Jackson was supposed to deliver Quinn's file to the magistrate in hopes she would let Robert go after she was done.

==============================================================================

They got their clothes and headed for the boat. This time, Terri went in first to change.

She came out wearing the suit, but she couldn't zip it. "Zip me up, would you?" she asked Stiles.

He did so, then it was his time to get changed. "Promise you won't take a peek?"

"I promise." she said, smiling embarrassed.

He went in and changed. Then he came out and looked at her. "You need to zip me up as well."

She did so and they turned on the transmitter. Lex was monitoring.

"So, which one of us should go into the pipe first?" she asked Stiles.

"Wait, you're not going."

"I'm backing you up."

"Oh, you did a great job with the last guy" was the first thing that came to mind. But then he remembered it wasn't fair, she wasn't responsible for Callan's death. "Right, but you're not going into the pipe with me!"

Lex told them they didn't have much time, so Terri just jumped in the water.

==============================================================================

Back at the apartment, Haisley handed the file to the magistrate. He didn't tell her they tampered with it, but she suspected it anyway. So, she got Mr. Quinn to answer a question.

"You became aware of a plot to murder a Uruguayan dissident in another country and notified that country's authorities in order to save his life. What country was that, Mr. Quinn?"

==============================================================================

Stiles jumped after her. They went into the prison, bombed the prison shower and got Polvon, now they only needed to head back - with less oxygen and a struggling prisoner.

==============================================================================

Lex is still monitoring Stiles and Terri, who are on their way back through the pipe. He's also on the phone with Jackson, who is driving back. He told Lex about Quinn and how he answered the magistrate's question correctly - the country was Spain.

Lex asks Jackson to stay on the line, that way he can hear Terri and Stiles coming out of the water. They listen to them asking about Polvon, until they get him and hand him to the other agents. Lex shuts down the audio.

"They've got Polvon!" he tells Jackson.

==============================================================================

Stiles and Terri get back on the boat. He helps her up, and they talk about the mission.

"Is it always like this?" Terri asks as she starts to unzip him.

"Yeah. Every time I bomb my way into a prison shower is sort of like this." He replies and then starts to unzip her. "You did great tonight."

"Yeah, I did. He couldn't swim."

"I know."

"He kept grabbing my leg."

"Is that why? I just thought he liked you."

Terri looks back to see he's standing close to her. "What if I..." she starts to think, but there's no time to process this thought. She's so excited she just goes with the moment and kisses him.

Stiles is more than happy to be kissed by her - he was actually considering kissing her himself - but he's also so surprised all he can say is "Uh, what was that?"

As quickly as she kissed him she regrets it and walks away. But he doesn't let her get away so easily and walks over to her. He's standing in front of her, waiting for her to say something.

"You know, I'm not the kind of person that goes with the moment. I'm more of a thinker." she tells him.

"Not really a risk-taker emotionally."

He looks at her and his look makes her want to do this even more. She knows she shouldn't, but she's tired of living by the rules. So... she kisses him. And he kisses her back.

And in the middle of all this kissing she tells him "You tell a solitary person about this, I'll kill you with my bare hands. And I can!"

"Guess I'll keep my mouth shut."

"You can try."

They fall on the floor. They're so taken in this they forget everything else, including that there are surveillance cameras on the boat.

==============================================================================

"Are they all right?" Jackson asks Lex.

"Yes, they're fine. They're getting on the boat right now."

"Okay. Listen, I gotta hang up; I'll be there in about 20 minutes."

"Sure. I'm going to wait for them to come so I can take a shower. Hopefully they won't take long."

"Yeah. Bye."

They hang up. As Lex is about to turn off the surveillance camera, he sees Terri and Stiles standing very close, facing each other. "What did he say now to get her mad?" he thinks to himself. Suddenly, he sees Terri kissing Stiles. He's shocked, stunned. Then, Terri and Stiles lay down and...

"What the...?!" is all Lex can say.

TBC