Show: The Agency

Title: The American Family: Chapter 12

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: Sorry about the delay but, like I warned you, I'm on vacation right now, so I don't have much

time for writing. I did, however, make time to catch that new MI-5 show on A&E and by God, I

wish I hadn't. It was horrible… I stopped watching after the first fifteen minutes. And they

cancelled The Agency… right….

*~*~*~*~*~*

Friday evening, 6:00 p.m.

Terri zipped her duffle bag close and sighed. The last couple of days had been especially hard on

her. First, she'd had that huge blowout with Stiles in the supply closet, then they had received no

hits on their virtual APB on Jonathan O'Brien and had been supremely chewed out by Director

Gage who had just returned from a less than successful meeting with the President, then, when

she had come home expecting to tell her wonderfully polite and easy-going four-year-old about

their upcoming 'adventure' this weekend, A.B.2 had proceeded to throw the mother of all

tantrums.

Terri pinched away at the tension pounding between her brows as she remembered what

happened the night before.

***Flashback***

"Sweetie?" she asked, as they were having dinner. Alex looked up. "How would you like to go on

an adventure with Mommy this weekend?"

His big blue eyes widened. "With you and Daddy?" he asked innocently, knowing that this

weekend he was due for Stiles.

Terri shook her head and set her fork down. "No, honey, with a friend of Mommy's." She paused,

not sure how she could explain it. "You know that nice man that Mommy told you about?

Michael?"

Alex nodded.

"Well…" she drawled. "He's invited Mommy and you to come spend the weekend with him.

Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"What about Daddy? Can Daddy come, too, Mommy?"

Terri swallowed. "No, honey. Daddy's busy this weekend," she said, wincing slightly at the lie.

"Doin' what, Mommy? I'm s'posed to go with him this weeken'."

"I know that, honey, but wouldn't you like to go on an adventure with a new friend instead of just

staying in at Daddy's boring apartment trying to cut off the whiskers from Mrs. Watkins's cat?" she

teased, trying to make it seem like a request, when already her mind was made up.

A.B.2 paused, seemingly weighing the question. "No," he finally answered, before slurping up

more noodles.

Terri was shocked. She couldn't believe what she heard. "What did you say, honey?"

"No, Mommy. I wanna spend this weeken' with Daddy. We always have fun t'gether, even if we

jus' stay in his apartment."

What had started out as a seemingly innocent way to convince her son that spending this

weekend with her and Michael would be some great adventure had escalated to Alex screaming

and crying before finally knocking his bowl to the floor, sending noodles and sauce all over the

floor.

They had paused their screaming then. The only sounds were Alex's sniffles and Terri's heavy

breathing. "Go to your room, Alex," she barely managed through clenched teeth.

Alex jumped up and scurried to the hallway, but not before he paused to scream, "I hate Michael

an' I hate you!"

Terri was speechless. Alex's footsteps hadn't even died away before she slumped in her chair

and cried.

***Present***

Now, as she reflected on today, she could feel a lump of hurt stick in her throat. Astonishingly,

Alex had maintained a code of silence towards her all day, refusing to even kiss her cheek when

she dropped him off at day-care this morning. In that moment when his steely blue eyes had met

hers, he had reminded her so much of Stiles that it stung far more than his refusal to say

goodbye. She had come into the office to find her message-light blinking. It was Stiles calling to

say: "Do whatever the hell you want, Terri. You always do. Why should you give a damn about

what I want?" That had caused some raised eyebrows from Joshua and Lex, but they both knew

better than to pry.

The only thing keeping Terri from crawling into bed and bawling her eyes out was the knowledge

that she would spend a wonderful weekend with an amazing person. And she was determined

not to let A.B.2 or A.B. Senior or anyone for that matter but a damper on her weekend.

Just then, she saw the play of headlights swing across her curtains and the beep of a horn in her

driveway signaled that she had a visitor. She crossed to the window and peeped out. A smile

found its way to her face. It was Michael.

As she made her way to the stairs with her bag, she paused and called, "Alex, get your stuff,

sweetie, Michael's here!" Only silence greeted her. She heaved a sigh. This was shaping up to be

a very tough weekend.

As the doorbell rang, Terri paused to check her appearance in the mirror. She had pulled her

wavy hair back into a ponytail and slapped on a baseball cap. Unsure as to where they were

heading, she had gambled on a pair of jeans with her hiking boots and a comfortable yet classic-

looking navy-blue cable sweater. Sporty but cute… she hoped Michael thought so.

She swung open the door just as Michael was reaching for the doorbell again and her breath left

her in a rush. "Wow," she whistled appreciatively. He was glad in a hunter-green sweater,

stonewashed jeans that clung to his leans hips and were just tight enough to emphasis his cute

butt, a battered bomber jacket and boots. All he needed was a cowboy hat or a motorcycle

helmet.

Michael flashed his thousand-watt smile. "You don't look so shabby yourself, Ms. Lowell," he

cheekily replied.

Terri reluctantly laughed as she stepped back to let him in.

Michael wrapped Terri in his arms and kissed her softly. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, as she

sighed when she pulled away.

"Nothing," she replied as she hugged him closer to her, enjoying the soft knit of his sweater

against the apple of his cheek and the scent of his cologne.

"Don't tell me that, Terri," he replied, kissing her hair. "Spill," he commanded gently.

"Alex isn't exactly thrilled that he's coming with us this weekend," she admitted reluctantly.

"Why not?" he asked, a furrow of curiosity finding its way between his brows.

"Well, when you asked us, I was thrilled," she started to explain. "But I completely forgot that Alex

was supposed to spend this weekend with his Dad. Needless to say that neither took the news

very well…. " She trailed off.

"You should've told me, Terri," he scolded gently. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of Alex and

his father, you know."

"I know, I know. But it's important to me that you get to know my son, and what better way than

this weekend away from home, huh?"

"What about, Alex?" he asked. "How does he feel? Seems to me that he *really* didn't take the

news very well," he said, nodding towards the stairs.

Terri turned to see Alex standing on the stairs, holding onto his Batman knapsack, his blue eyes

huge and defiant as he stared at Michael. Terri sighed heavily as she headed toward the stairs.

She caught his steely glare with one of her own and she grabbed his hand and had to practically

drag a very reluctant A.B.2 down the stairs to meet Michael.

"Michael O'Leary, this is my son, Alexander Bryan. Alex, this is Michael," she introduced.

"Hi there, big guy," spoke up Michael, sticking out his hand for a customary handshake.

A.B.2 stared at the outstretched hand. His blue eyes flicked up to Michael's, then back to his

mother. The silence stretched out for long seconds and still Alex said nothing. Terri gave him a

slight push forward between his shoulder blades. "Alexander…" she warned. Only then, with a

mutinous glare at both of them, did Alex step forward and reluctantly shake Michael's hand. "Hi."

Terri sighed again. Shaking her head, she apologized for her son's behaviour. "I'm sorry,

Michael."

Michael waved it away. "It's ok, Terri."

"Honey, can you go wait for us out on the porch?"

Alex seemingly couldn't wait to leave the room.

"I'm really sorry," she apologized, scrubbing at her eyes with her shirtsleeve. "I never expected

him to be so rude."

"It's fine. Besides," he added, drawing her into his arms, "I've got all weekend to make up for it.

By the end of the weekend, he'll be slapping me high-fives," he joked."

"I hope so," Terri laughed.

"I know so. This is gonna be one helluva weekend."

*~*~*~*~*~*

The door closed and the audible click of the lock flooded through Paddy's headset. He keyed in a

few commands and picked up the phone and dialed a number. When the person on the other line

picked up he spoke: "She's gone. Get movin' an', keep an eye on the car."

*~*~*~*~*~*

A.B. Stiles was on a mission. He wasn't undercover in some shady terrorist faction or committing

international espionage. No, in the crudest terms possible, he was out to get drunk and laid…

preferably in that order.

He certainly was noticeable the moment he set foot in the bar. Tall and buff, clad in dark denim

jeans, a periwinkle blue long-sleeved shirt and his favourite leather jacket, the moment his glacier

blue eyes swept the room, slight grins of appreciation and approval graced the faces of practically

every unattached female in attendance… and quite a few attached females as well.

He hadn't even taken a sip of the beer he had ordered before, out of the corner of his eye, he saw

a long-legged blonde slide onto the barstool beside him.

"A Cosmopolitan," he heard her order from the barkeep.

Stiles bided his time, slowly sipping his beer as he counted the seconds it took for the blonde to

take her drink from the star-struck barkeep and take a sensual sip of it before swinging in the

stool to face him.

"Hi. I'm Dina."

Stiles grinned inwardly. It had all transpired in less than 30 seconds. He turned his head slowly to

look at her. "Hi," he replied.

Dina flashed a grin that could not have been natural for all its pearly whiteness. "And you are…?"

she trailed off pointedly.

"A.B."

"What's the A.B. stand for?" she asked the universal question.

Stiles openly grinned, not missing the appreciative gleam in Dina's eyes. "I *could* tell you, but

then I'd have to kill you."

Dina laughed outright, tipping her head back, giving Stiles more than a peek at her ample

cleavage.

"Well we wouldn't want that now, would we, A.B.?" she asked, arching a penciled eyebrow at him

as she took another sip from her drink.

Dina wasn't the sort of woman he was usually attracted to: she was too thin, with an ample

bosom that seemed to defy the laws of gravity, her skin was too tan and she wore too much

makeup and too little clothes. But she was *exactly* what he was looking for in a woman

tonight… because physically, she was the exact opposite of Terri Lowell, the person he wanted

off his mind the most.

"No we wouldn't," he finally answered. Stiles looked her straight in the eye. "Listen, Dina we can

both beat around the bush and pretend to actually have a worthwhile conversation when we both

know you want me to take you home. So let's just cut the crap and get outta here."

Dina's eyes widened in astonishment; she certainly hadn't expected Stiles to make it so easy for

her. Stiles waited pointedly. A slow smile spread across her face. "Sure, why not? Lemme get my

coat."

*~*~*~*~*~*

3 hrs later

It had been more than a while since Stiles had done this. Picked up some nameless, faceless,

brainless woman from a bar and taken them home. It had been more than a while because no

woman had ever compared to Terri. Once he had gotten a taste, nothing was as sweet as she

was. But tonight was different. It was different because obviously, Terri didn't feel the same way

about him. Hell, she was going away for the weekend with her *boyfriend*!

And so he had drowned himself in Dina… ignoring how her mouth tasted like alcohol and Buffalo

wings, or that her perfume reminded him of overripe fruit. All that mattered was that she was

willing and she was *there* and she most definitely was *not* Terri Lowell.

Stiles rolled his head on the pillow and stared at the sleeping face of Dina in the moonlight. Her

mouth was slightly open and occasionally, the most unladylike of snores passed through her

mouth. But it didn't matter. For all the unladylike faults, the body beneath the sheets was toned,

trim, young and didn't bare the scars of motherhood and for the moment… that was all he

needed.

Stiles lifted a heavy hand and, with surprising gentleness, stroked Dina's curly platinum blonde

hair. Her eyes instantly snapped open, dark brown with sleepy shock. She grinned as she

recognized who it was and she reached up to him. "Again?" she asked as Stiles' weight settled

over her. He nodded imperceptively as he heard Dina ripping open the trusty foil package in the

dark.

A long time after as Dina clutched his sweaty frame to hers, she whispered softly in his ear. "It

must be quite a gal you're trying to forget."

Stiles' head snapped up and the knowing look in Dina's eyes reflected that she knew she had hit

the nail right on the head. He said nothing, simply pulled away from her and sat on the edge of

the bed.

"Is it working?" she asked. His silence was her answer. Dina shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it

was worth a try, wasn't it?"

Stiles still didn't say anything, just hunted for his clothes in the dark and drove home to his

apartment and sat in the dark, cold and alone.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Previously, somewhere in rural Virginia.

It was pitch black for most of the ride into the country. Although there was a full moon, most of it's

light was blocked by the trees on either side of the narrow two lane road that they'd been

traveling along for the last two hours. In that time, they'd only seen two cars pass them going in

the other direction. Half an hour ago, Michael had turned off the air-conditioning and rolled down

the windows and the balmy night air circulated in the car. Its warmth had lulled both Terri and

Alex to sleep, but the pitch and roll of the car as it turned off the road onto an even narrower dirt

road snapped Terri awake.

Terri rubbed her eyes in an effort to regain orientation. "Where are we?" she asked sleepily.

Michael's grin flashed white in the darkness. "We're about ten miles from the cabin. This road

leads to a small lake and from there a private road leads to the cabin."

"Oh, ok," replied Terri, shifting in her seat to check on Alex. In the dark of the car, she could

barely see him, but she could hear his deep even breathing.

"Go back to sleep, Terri. We're still a long way off."

"Ok," she conceded, accepting his soft kiss on her lips.

"I'll wake you when we get there."

TBC…

A/N: Sorry for the delay as is the norm. The next chapter will be a lot sooner in coming. Please

R&R, love to hear your comments.