The expression on Dirk's face when he burst into the Secret World Security Organization's regional headquarters said it all. His first solo mission had been a success. Tina was so proud of him.
Fac-Tel had warned her it would be a mistake to send Dirk Allen on a real mission. But the super computer's specialties were remote monitoring and logistical back-up. It didn't understand the nuances of the human character. Tina knew the male-model turned agent-in-training was ready. During the previous month Dirk had studied hard and paid attention, two skills he wasn't born with. He learned how to tail a suspect, identify possible weapons based on the bulges in clothing and memorize Tina's lunch order after only hearing it once.
There were also Dirk's natural talents. His wavy, black hair, chiseled abs and glowing smile were assets, but only for aesthetic reasons. What really set him apart were his inhuman speed, strength and stamina. It didn't matter much to Tina that the origins of his powers remained a mystery. She'd had the chance to experience everything he could do and she was impressed.
Tina absentmindedly touched her breast as she remembered exactly what she had experienced with Dirk.
Yes, they'd had sex. It was a work thing. Tina didn't regret it one bit. Thousands of lives were at stake and they'd done what they had to, to save them all. Seeing Dirk naked was a work perk, as were the multiple orgasms. She'd never forget the feel of his large, rough hands on her breasts or how his scorching lips teased her sensitive flesh.
Sometimes at night when she couldn't sleep, she'd think about Dirk and touch herself. Her breath would come in long shuddering gasps as she pictured him between her legs. There was something about his face when he climaxed. His expression was so vulnerable and raw, as if what he was feeling was too intense for him to process. That expression made her want to cradle him in her arms and tell him how much she cared for him.
Which was, of course, strictly on a professional level. She cared for him the way one coworker cares for another. It definitely wasn't more than that. No way. Love was the sort of folly a secret agent couldn't indulge in. Love was a weakness, a weapon that could be used against her. Tina was forbidden by SWSO regulation 96 from falling in love. And that wasn't a problem. Not one bit.
"Agent Allen," Tina said in a professional yet encouraging voice. "Are you ready for your debriefing?"
A smile stretched Dirk's sensual yet manly lips. His sea-foam green eyes sparkled with excitement. It wasn't a particularly difficult mission, a simple reconnaissance and report, yet it was his first mission. The sense of confidence radiating off him lifted Tina's spirits. She couldn't let this momentous occasion pass without recognition.
He took a breath to speak, but Tina held up a hand to interrupt him. "Fac-Tel," she called to the air, "start audio recording for the archives."
"Fine," the AI muttered. It wasn't Dirk's biggest fan and made sure everyone knew it. "Recording, for whatever that's worth."
Tina looked back at Dirk and nodded. "Go ahead."
He licked his lips, inhaled deeply, opened his mouth and... and...
No sound emerged and a fleeting look of concern fluttered across his eyes.
"You were staking out the nightclub," Tina said, trying to jog his memory.
There had been rumors of a new player in the local criminal underworld. Middleburg wasn't the most important city in the United States, but it was the city Tina was assigned to monitor and protect. Her job was to follow every lead and hunt down every rumor. Damn it, she would do whatever it took to keep her city and its surrounding suburbs safe. Today that meant sending Dirk to scope out Basic Bitch, the hot new nightclub in the corduroy district, and catch sight of the elusive General Zero.
Now that the mission was complete Dirk only nodded. He had yet to say a single word.
"Agent Allen." Tina was starting to grow a little bit frustrated. "Report."
Dirk opened his mouth for a third time. It was obvious by the way the vein popped out on his forehead that he was trying very hard to do something. Tina couldn't for the life of her guess what that might be. Finally a sound emerged. It was less words and more a strangled moan.
"Oh God, you're choking!" She raced behind him and reached around, clasping her hands just under his sternum. He pushed her off, taking a couple deep and loud breaths to prove his windpipe wasn't blocked. "Then what's wrong?" she asked. "Why aren't you talking?"
Dirk looked around frantically and made more weird moaning sounds. Finally an air of determination came over him and in one swift motion he reached down his pants and started to masturbate.
* * * * *
Chapter 107 of the SWSO training manual states 'Bus stops are to be avoided. Only bad things happen there. The bus itself is fine. You'll be safe on the bus, but waiting at a bus stop is a sure way to compromise your mission.'
Chapter 108 gives the following advice, 'Family is the figurative anvil tied to your feet before you're thrown into a polluted river. They will only drag you down, down, down to the muddy depths and eventually drown you. Disown your cousin. Forsake your sister. Ignore your father at public gatherings if you have to. And for goodness sake, if any of them approach you at a bus stop get the hell out of there!'
Unfortunately, Dirk had only read up to chapter 3.
He had staked-out Basic Bitch for nearly 12 hours, dancing and drinking and snorting different colored powders before finally laying eyes on General Zero. No one knew what the General was up to, but Dirk was confident Tina would figure it out once she learned what he had seen.
While he waited for the bus back to SWSO headquarters, he went over the events of the day in his mind, just as he had been trained to do. The protocol, Tina had explained, was to do this in the car while driving back from the mission, but Dirk didn't own a car. He didn't need one. He could run faster than any sports car and with less than half the green house emissions.
Only he learned the hard way not to run at night. He didn't have headlights and bicyclists were not easy to see. The Middleburg Municipal Bus was safer. Or at least that's what he thought.
He thought he could relax, enjoy a gentle summer breeze, and bask in the satisfaction of a completed mission. Little did he know that his mission was about to be compromised.
"Dirk Allen," a voice called from the darkness. "How come you never call me?"
"Dad?" Dirk turned around to see a middle-aged man emerge from a large puff of smoke.
Alan Allen was Dirk's adopted father and, as usual, he wore a purple velvet cloak with gold stars painted on it. Alan had earned his wizard's robes and he made sure everyone knew it.
"I'm not surprised you don't recognize me," the older man said as he approached his son. "It's been so long since you've laid eyes on me."
Dirk sighed. His father could be so passive-aggressive.
"I'm sorry," he said and he mostly meant it. "I've been really busy these past couple months, you know, with work and all."
"I wouldn't call it work," Alan grumbled. "You're a male-model. My son would pick the one career where women make more than men."
Technically Dirk was still a male-model. Tina insisted he keep the job as a cover so no one would suspect he was a secret agent. Apparently "secret" meant he had to keep it a secret. It also meant he had to keep hidden the one thing that might actually make his father proud.
"How long are you going to even have that career?" Alan leaned against a nearby dumpster and made a show of examining his fingernails. "It's not like you're getting any younger."
"I'm in my mid-twenties," Dirk reminded him.
"Tic toc, tic toc." Alan looked up, meeting his son's eyes with a hard, unforgiving glare. "I want grandchildren."
"Right now?" Dirk looked around them. They were alone on a deserted street in Middleburg's corduroy district. A greasy ground fog hugged the cold pavement and echos of lost hope rattled through the night air. "Even if I had an agreeable partner, this isn't an ideal place to make a baby."
Alan's upper lip curled into a snarl. "Ridicule me all you want, but I demand the Allen blood be passed onto the next generation."
"Allen blood?" Dirk scoffed. "I'm adopted."