Chapter 18

Garrett kissed the top of Cass's head.

She snuggled close, kissing his neck. "You think the baby's sleeping?"

"Probably."

"Garrett probably got him right to bed. He's a good sitter. Almost as good with him as you are... not that you'd let it get around." She smiled.

"We can't let anyone think I've gone soft."

"Guess not. But you're a great dad."

"It's because you're such a good mom."

She kissed his neck again. "I like you taking time for us again."

"So do I. I didn't realize how much I missed it."

"And it's nice that you're trusting more to Garrett." She kissed a particularly sensitive spot behind his ear.

He smiled. "Well I have to....he's going to be taking over one day."

"Yeah. I bet you're glad he has a lady friend of his own now." She played with his hair gently.

"At least we know he isn't gay."

"I'd say we do know that." She smiled a little bit.

"You're bothered by it, aren't you?"

"A little," she admitted. "I mean... they're related."

"I know."

"It just strikes me as peculiar."

"Why?"

"Because they're related."

Garrett sighed. "Yeah...but...we can't really help who he has feelings for."

"I know."

"And I don't want to strain our relationship with him. Yes, he is our son, and we want him to be happy, but we also need him to stay loyal, and close to the organization."

"Garrett... sometimes you're a little too businesslike, you know that?"

"Yeah."

She kissed his cheek nonetheless.

He turned his head and kissed her. "I love you, Cass."

"I love you too."

"I'm not businesslike all the time."

"Most of the time. Don't discuss business when you're naked in bed with your wife, baby."

"That's a good tip." He kissed her neck.

She smiled a bit. "You're awfully cute sometimes, you know?"

"I try."

"Well... you succeed... sometimes."

"Only sometimes?"

"Yeah." She grinned.

"Well I guess we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"

"Guess so."

He kissed her softly and tickled her.

She laughed. "Not fair, young man!"

"I play by my own rules."

"I know." She grinned.

He kissed her again.

She kissed back.

"You're even more beautiful than the day I met you."

"Aww, that was sweet." She smiled.

"It's true."

"Well thank you."

Garrett kissed her again.

She kissed back eagerly.

~*~*~*~

Cass sighed. "You want a drink?"

"I'm fine." Grace replied.

"So..."

"How's Chelsea?"

"Upset she's not allowed at her home."

"Well her father and I are upset."

"Clearly."

"I'm sure she got over it fast enough, didn't she?"

"No."

Grace gave her a rather pointed look. "Don't you have a problem with it?"

"He's my son."

"And my nephew."

"I know."

"And you're sitting there telling me you don't have a problem that our children are sleeping together?!?"

"No. Because he's my son and I love him anyway."

"It's incest, Cassidy."

"That doesn't make him less my son."

"It doesn't make her any less my daughter either."

"Then why don't you treat her like that?"

"Because we can't approve of what she's doing!"

"Well I do."

"Why?"

"They're in love."

"They're not."

"They are. And if you saw them you'd know that."

Grace sighed. "I don't approve of what you're allowing them to do."

"I don't care."

"And you've got absolutely no problem with it."

"No."

"Of course not."

"What the hell does that mean??"

"It means you've never reprimanded your children whenever they've done something wrong."

"So I'm a bad mother?"

"I'm not saying that, I'm saying when you don't discipline your kids, they think they can do whatever the hell they want."

"I discipline them, thank you."

"You didn't discipline Garrett."

"I'll thank you not to correct my parenting, as I never corrected yours."

"I'm sorry, but when it involves my daughter, I think I have a right to."

"Grace? Grow up."

"You're letting our kids sleep together!"

"I'm not letting anyone do anything."

"You're not stopping them."

"They're adults."

"They're cousins!"

"I know."

"And you're telling me you have no problem with this?"

"We just had this discussion."

"I know. But I still don't understand. Even if they say they're in love. They're cousins."

"Well... if they're in love... they are."

Grace sighed.

Cass shrugged.

Grace rubbed her eyes. "If it were anyone else..."

"Yes?"

"I don't know...if she were involved with anyone else...."

"You wouldn't like it either."

"I'd like it a whole helluva lot better than this."

"Fine."

"I can't approve of this."

"Fine."

~*~*~*~

The young intel agent knocked tentatively on the door. He'd been sent to probably the most intimidating man on the earth with bad news... it didn't seem to be a good omen for the day.

"What is it?" Garrett demanded.

"Sir... the mission this morning... went badly... the two agents were apprehended..."

"What?" He slammed his fists on the desk.

"Sir... I'm sorry..." The agent backed away. "They were apprehended, we're searching for leads..."

"This was supposed to be cake!" Garrett exclaimed. "An easy mission! What the hell went wrong?"

"They knew we were coming, sir."

"How?"

"We're... looking into it..."

"FIND OUT!" Garrett barked. Kayla...and Chelsea...both of them in IMF hands. Garrett was well away of what happened to Spencer women when they were kidnapped by the IMF...he wasn't about to let that happen to either of them.

The young man fairly bolted from the room.

Garrett tore down the hallway. He needed to find Cass before someone else told her...

Cassidy looked up as Garrett burst into the room. "Baby? I know we said like every two weeks you were taking an evening off for us, but you're *really* early... though it's sweet you remembered..."

"No....something happened...." He wasn't looking forward to her reaction...and Garrett....he'd have to tell him too....

"Honey, what happened?"

"A mission....it wasn't supposed to be complicated, but the IMF was waiting for them...two of my agents were taken...."

"Who?" She asked, reaching for the phone. If they had families she'd have to call wives and mothers and the like...

Garrett hesitated. "Kayla and Chelsea."

"Kayla... Oh God, Garrett, our little girl..."

Garrett nodded. "And Chelsea....it wasn't supposed to be a dangerous mission, Cass...."

"Our girl..." She said quietly. "We have to go after her."

"No, Cass, not yet."

"What?"

"We can't. We've got to wait until there's more information."

"She could already be dead!" Cassidy screamed.

"They wouldn't kill her."

"Then what, Garrett, if you're so omniscient, WHERE is my baby girl?!?"

"I don't know! But I know that if we go after her right away before we have any intel, we'll be walking right into a trap!"

"They'll kill her..." A tear slid down her cheek.

"They won't kill her. She's useless to them dead."

"Then what exactly do you think they'll do?"

Garrett shrugged. "Wait. They want Gavin, Garrett and me to rush off to rescue her. If they're expecting us, you've just gotten rid of the head of the Spencer organization and his heir."

There was a moment's silence. "You're worried about Chelsea... you aren't worried about Kayla. You're not worried about your daughter!"

"I am!" Garrett exclaimed. "The only reason she was on this mission is because it was supposed to be easy! She wasn't supposed to get kidnapped."

"And you're sitting there plotting what they'll do with CHELSEA! DO YOU CARE THAT THEY'LL KILL HER?!?"

"Chelsea's Garrett's best chance for an heir and a very good agent! I don't want either of them to die. I know they won't kill either of them."

"And therefore she's worth more to you than your child. I see."

"No, Cass, you don't. I love my daughter. But I'm not going to rush in. I need to figure out how to rescue them both."

"You didn't deny Chelsea's worth more," Cassidy said quietly.

"She's not." He told her. "This is my fault, I never should have allowed Kayla to go..."

"Dylan won't kill her, that's what scares me. He'd sell her or something... you have friends, Garrett, but you have plenty of enemies."

"I know...Cass, I swear, he won't hurt her."

A few tears coursed down her cheeks. "I know she's supposed to be so mature - she's older than Chelsea - but she still seems so little..."

"Because she's our baby girl."

"It seems so long ago, sometimes..."

"I know." Garrett hugged her.

"Our little girls have families of their own... Garrett might start one... even Michael would be eighteen now..."

He nodded

She sighed. "They've stolen our children before, Garrett. They won't do it again. If I turn myself into a human bomb and destroy Dylan Kincaide myself, they won't do it again."

"I'll get them back."

Cassidy let the tears truly fall then, burying her face against Garrett's shoulder.

He rubbed her back gently.

"I want her upstairs sleeping in her bed like when she was ten..."

"So do I, Cassidy."

She cried in his arms.

Garrett led her to the couch and pulled her into his arms.

She settled herself on his lap.

Garrett kissed her neck softly. "We'd better tell Garrett....and Gavin and Grace."

"I.. I can't." She sighed.

"You can't?"

"I know I usually handle telling people... but when it's your brother... it's different... I'll tell Garrett, if you'll tell them."

Garrett sighed. "Alright."

"I'm sorry." She kissed his cheek. "When you're done, come back...? I don't want to be by myself, I think about it."

"I will."

"Thank you."

He kissed her. "I'll be back."

"I love you..."

"I love you too, Cass." Garrett said, leaving the door open as he walked back to his office to call Gavin.

"What?" Gavin demanded upon picking up the phone.

Cassidy went upstairs to her son's room. "Garrett?"

"I have some bad news that you should know."

"Yeah?" Garrett looked up. "Mom, what's wrong?"

"Don't you always have bad news?"

"Not usually, but this is pretty bad."

"Garrett... Kayla and Chelsea were on a mission but they were captured..."

"What?" Garrett asked.

"What the hell is it?"

"They were kidnapped... Kayla and Chelsea..."

"Chelsea was captured by the IMF on a mission..."

"Both of them?"

"You fucking sent her off to get killed!" Gavin yelled.

"Yeah..."

"No, they were waiting for the team...we had no idea." Garrett told him.

"Oh God..." Garrett's thoughts immediately flew to Chelsea and his sister...what the bastards in the IMF were doing to them....

"Your father's working on it," Cass said quietly.

"If you hadn't decided to let her work for you and let your son fuck her this wouldn't be a problem!"

"It was her choice to go!"

"We've got to get them out."

"I know..."

"You let it happen." Gavin hung up.

"How the hell did they get kidnapped?"

"The IMF was expecting them."

Garrett sighed and picked up the phone again to call another part of the building.

"Fuck..." Garrett muttered.

"Pretty much."

Garrett sighed. "I knew something was going to happen. I had a bad feeling...this mission seemed almost too easy..."

"Well, something happened. It's alright, your father's plenty concerned about Chelsea."

"What about Kayla?"

"I... don't know." She sighed.

"We'll find them. We have to."

"We'd better." For a moment, Cass almost looked weak.

"Where's dad now?"

"Down in his office."

Garrett nodded but hesitated. He seemed unsure what he was supposed to do.

"You can take a rest if you want... I don't think he expects you to think about it logically right now."

Garrett nodded. "But...I have to do something."

"I know."

Garrett paced the room like a caged animal. "I need to get them."

"You think I don't? It's my child that's there, Garrett."

"Yeah...but..." He was torn between who he wanted to save more.

"You and your father don't care about her, do you?" She said suddenly.

"What?" Garrett asked.

"You two'd rather see Chelsea brought back than Kayla." She felt herself on the edge of tears again.

"No, Mom, I want them both back. But it's different. Kayla's your baby girl....and Chelsea's just my girlfriend...Kayla's just as important to me as she is to her. I'd die if anything happened to her."

"I don't know if your father feels the same way."

"He does."

She sighed.

"Mom, he does."

"I hope so.'

Garrett nodded. "He loves Kayla. Chelsea just happens to be important tactical wise to him."

"I guess. I know - God this sounds horrible - but sometimes I wonder if he'd even go after me anymore."

"Are you kidding me? He'd move the continents around if he could to get to you."

"Doesn't feel like it sometimes, is all."

Garrett shrugged. "Dad's never been an emotional man."

"I've known him a little longer than you," Cass said wryly.

"Yeah."

"Things'll be alright."

"They will."

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