THE AGENCY

Chapter 27: THE STEP CHAPTER

THE STEP CHAPTER

Xander rushes in as he sits beside me. I give him the "everything is perfectly fine" smile. He buys it, at least for the time being.
"Agent Shield." Says John.
"Excuse me, John, but the letter was for me. I'm also the only one who saw the image, so I should very well be asking the questions." I state. He rolls his eyes and motions for me to continue. "Xander, is your father?" I ask uncertainly. He gives me a weird look and answers,
"My father's name is Thomas Smith." He says. A look of puzzlement crosses John's face. Then a look of pure horror passes his face.
"That can't be. No...no...That's my step-father's name." John says. Oh god...
"How...how...about we look at a picture? That...that way all of us can verify?" I ask. Everyone is walking on eggshells at this point... John walks over to his computer and we wait. Then he calls us over and we all stare at the image presented on the screen. I gasp at the man's face. It's exactly the same man I saw that day on the screen...no...no...the memories are trying to creep back into my mind...the throbbing in my head gets worse. That man killed my father. I lie completely flat on the sofa as I try to numb out the pain. Then I open my eyes to see John and Xander looking at each other. Oh god...I can't believe it. As I push back the pain, I realize...they're STEP-BROTHERS! OH GOSH! I close my eyes again as I take in the pain and realization. Then hell breaks loose between them. I don't know who started it, but I hear them and my eyes flash open as I see the two men attacking each other. I scramble off the sofa. Thank god the bullet wound is numbed. I stumble over to them and try to hang on to John as Jemma pulls on Xander.
"THERE HAS TO BE A MISTAKE!" John yells.
"YOU'RE MY DAMN STEP-BROTHER? AND YOU'RE MY BOSS?" yells Xander.
"I'VE BEEN COMPETING WITH MY STEP-BROTHER, FOR SKY?" asks John.
"SO YOU HAVE BEEN COMPETING?" Xander growls. As they yell at each other they attempt to beat the crap out of one another.
"SHE CHOSE YOU, BASTARD!" John exclaims.
"HOW IS IT DAMN POSSIBLE?!" Xander questions as he's still trying to process the facts.
"Stop!" I yell at them.
"There has to be an explanation! Stop it! This is just damn barbaric of you two!" Scolds Jemma.
"Xander Scott Smith and John Adam Preston! Stop it before you kill each other!" I yell at them. They're so emotionally involved that they don't care that I used their middle name. Even though I don't feel the pain, I feel weaker and I lose my hold on John. That's when I take out the gun. As I stumble back I take out my gun. Then I let three bullets pierce the back wall and let the sound ring throughout the room. They immediately separate until their eyes focus on me.
"Let's deal with this rationally." I say calmly as I stumble back farther into John's desk.
"As if you're ever rational." Xander mumbles.
"There has to be a way to deal with this new information..." I say as gently as possible in the moment.
"So you can shoot bullets through a wall and I can't beat a guy up for five minutes? How is that fair, Sky?" Xander exclaims with an emotionally distraught side tone. Oh, Xander... I scramble toward him with whatever balance I have left and cup his cheek gently.
"Xander a wall is a wall...you're hurting an actual human. There's a difference, love." I say softly with a small smile, but it doesn't calm his anger and emotional trauma. "We'll figure this out...you and me...ok? Xander, please...it doesn't help either of us when you get violent..." I say honestly as I press a kiss to his lips. He relaxes just a bit. It seems to make a difference so I cup the other side of his face and bring his lips to mine as I capture them in my mouth. He supports my frame as I take his mouth further in mine and erase all the frustration. He starts to kiss me harder and leaves a trail of kisses down my neck. Then I realize we're not alone...also there's John...I turn around, but Xander's arms wrap around my waist possessively. He rests his chin on my right shoulder as he presses another possessive kiss to my collar bone. It sends shivers all the way to my toes. I face John and he still looks frazzled by everything that just happened
"Let's sit down and sort this out." Says Jemma. She looks distraught as well, by this new realization. We all sit on the sofa and Xander pulls me onto his lap. His grip never loosens...I sigh. Someone needs to start talking so I decide to take initiative.
"So your father..." I say slowly as I look at Xander, but he's looking viciously at John. "And your step-dad?..." I say as I look at John. He's looking intently back at Xander. "...killed my father?" I ask softly. "Please stop staring at each other...it's not really fun to watch you to gawk at each other from this perspective. I'm sure Jemma would like to agree. So it's true that my father is dead because of you know...uh..." They both still continue to send death glares at each other, but respond at the exact same time.
"I don't know, Sky." They both state. They are really not helping.
"Ok, let's forget about me for the moment and work this out...John who is your mother? What happened with your parents?" I ask quietly. He sucks in a deep breath and responds.
"Alright, my mother is Claire Lynn Preston. I mean now her name is Claire Lynn Smith...but yeah. My parents divorced 12 years ago and my mother remarried 3 years back. Sky, I really don't know my step father other than the fact that he ran another agency. I can't verify that he killed your father..." John says.
"Xander?" I ask as I turn to look into his eyes.
"I haven't been in contact with my father for the past 5 years...Our parents divorced, when I was 13. Jemma went with mom and I went with my father. I later on left my father to train to be in the agency. It is possible that he remarried and that John just happens to be my...." He struggles with the last word.
"Step-brother," I finish for him. They both cringe at the new title.
"Can you guys at least pretend to get along for my sake, please?" I ask innocently. Their expressions change as they look at me. It's back to adoration.
"If it makes you happy, princess." Xander whispers in my ear. John just gives me a slight nod.
"It's a title! Just a title! It doesn't have anything to do with blood...so stop being such drama queens. This can really mean nothing to you guys, but you guys are just making it everything! It doesn't need to mean anything! You both are legal adults. You're independent. I don't understand why you guys can't get along!" That little speech just put them on hush mouth. I give them both a strict look. Now who's the adult! The pain is ebbing at the back of my head again. "I'm really not feeling great right now, so I'm going back to my apartment. You children can continue your childish behavior." I state as I attempt to crawl off Xander's lap, but he doesn't let me. He holds me tighter.
"Sky, there's a murderer after you... as we keep needing to remind you. You're staying with Xander." John says.
"I need to get going. I said I was watching this psychopath for a day." Jemma states as she gets up.
"I'm not a psychopath!" I yell at her.
"That's because you're my psychopath." Xander says in my ear. I hate how my frustration cheers them up. Even John has a smile on his face.
"Shut the hell up, Xander. I'm not a damn psychopath!" I say with a pout as they smile at me. Jemma starts walking towards the door. "Will I be seeing you again?" I ask. I think we'd make great friends.
"Yeah, when I'm forced to be your sister-in-law." She says with a smirk. Then she walks out.
"JEMMA!" Xander yells with a growl. I laugh at him. "Don't joke about things like that!" he yells at her. Marriage? Oh god...I'm so not ready for that...I remove the thoughts from my head and Xander helps me up. "Ok let's see if this hurts." He says as he helps me off the sofa and luckily my wound is still numbed. He swings an arm around my waist and brings my arm around his shoulder as he takes away most of the weight.
"Xander, it's fine, let's go." I say as he slowly walks me out the door.
"I like your sister," I comment.
"Surprisingly," he retorts.
"What? She's pretty sassy and straightforward. She's kickass and smart. I like that." I say.
"Oh yeah?" Then he leans in close to my ear. "And what do you like about me?" he asks with a cocky grin. I smack his chest with my other hand.
"We weren't talking about you, Xander! If you're so confident, why don't you tell me what I like about you..." I say to him as he picks up our walking pace.
"Oh, that's a really long list, Sky. I think you like the way I look...considering the way you were staring at me the first time I met you. I think you like my smile...You definitely like my dimples, as I remember the first time we kissed..."he says.
"Oh gosh...curse your observance!" I say to him with a deep blush.
"Most of all...I think you tend to adore my arrogance and tall attitude." He says with another egoistic smile.
"That's a lie. I've been complaining nonstop about it since day 1!" I say in defense.
"Oh you need to work on your acting skills if you think I bought all those complaints. Look at all your egoistic friends. It's just your type, Sky. It's hard for you to resist it, but easy for you to deny it." He says smoothly.
"Oh? Ok. If you're just going to irritate me all damn night then I'll go kiss your step-brother!" I reply in annoyance.
"Well, go ahead...because you're only doing it to despise me anyways. You wouldn't kiss him anyways, not after the moments we've had." He says.
"What makes you so damn sure???" I ask. He pushes me against the wall and presses me against him as he takes my lips in his and passionately kisses them. I'm entranced by the desire dancing in his piercing blue eyes. His lips leave me wanting more. As our lips part I take in a breath to steady myself. Hen he leans in and I let out a whimper as I mentally beg for more.
"That's why." He states with a smile. This time I willingly accept defeat to Xander Scott Smith.