"Oh Max." 99 exclaimed pulling a sack along with her into their house. "I'm so exhausted. I went to the laundry." She made a last ditch effort to lift the sack full of clothes into Max's arms.
"Listen 99. I'll make you a nice cup of coffee and we'll go up to bed, I'm beat, too." He consoled.
"You're a doll." She said and planting a brief kiss on his lips before he disappeared into the kitchen. She sat down on the couch and pulled off her shoes, she propped her foot on the coffee table and massaged the other one. She had been out shopping all day. The twins were at her mothers for a good long while and she was glad to have a little time to herself, but on the other hand, she was missing them already.

Max came out holding two cups of coffee on saucers. "Come on 99." He said to her, as she let go of her foot.
"That was fast." She exclaimed taking one of the cups out of his hand as they climbed the staircase.
"I had it already made and waiting for you." He told her reaching the top of the steps first as 99 smiled about how thoughtful and considerate he had been for the last three days. She put her hand on his back, and he turned and smiled back at her. He took her hand in his and pulled her into the bedroom, which was even darker than usual, she guessed that the window shades had been pulled down. She felt along the wall and found the light switch. The light flickered on and revealed a large sign from the window to the closet. She blinked while her eyes adjusted to the suddenly bright light that filled her room. Finally she could see it, 'Happy Anniversary 99!' her hands instantly went up to cup her mouth. A small tear formed in her eye she turned and gave Max a big hug.
"Do you believe how stupid I've been?" she looked into Max's eyes. "To have possibly have forgotten our anniversary?"
Her question went unanswered as Max held 99 in his arms and rocked back and forth with her head resting on his chest. Max turned and put the needle on the record player and 99's favorite song, not to mention the first they ever danced to, filled the room.
"I made reservations at that little restaurant just outside of town. You know the one by the pond." 99's eyes glowed as she looked into his. "I made the reservations for the table overlooking the water."
"Max?" 99 began almost speechless with love and admiration. "That sounds. perfect."
"Just let me change and we'll go." She went over to her closet and swung open the vented doors and gasped. She screamed and dropped her coffee which spilled onto the rug and seeped into the in between of the threads.
"Oh my beige rug." She put her hand over her eyes and whimpered. "Oh."
"99? Priorities!" Max had his hands up and motioned to the man in 99's closet holding a gun.
"Happy Anniversary." He said holding out the gun even further and prepared to shoot. 99's face twisted in horror, Max just smiled.
"Thank you. Listen if you want to join us for dinner at the lakefront." Max offered.
"Really? The lakefront, you know I took my wife there for our anniversary last year. How long ya been married?" He lowered the gun and walked over to Max while 99 was desperately trying to save her carpet.
"10 years today." Max explained. 99 sighed in the background and rushed into the bathroom for water for the stain.
"Congrats!" He told Max and patted him on the back. "You sly dog. Well have a good time. I gotta get back to the little woman."
"Thanks, bye." Max waved good-bye as the mysterious man from 99's closet made his way down the stairs and out the front door. 99 came back in with a facecloth in her hand and the other hand was under it catching the drips.
"99." He said in exasperation, "The rug is fine."

99 and Max went on their merry way off to the lakefront and had the time of their lives. They danced on the balcony, and had wine and ate dinner.
"Oh Max, you spoil me." 99 said, Max practically holding her up.
"And you 99," He told her propping her against the doorframe so he could hang up their coats. "Have had a little too much wine."
"Come on 99, let's go up to bed you can rest, and tomorrow I'll make you breakfast." 99 was a little too far gone though and Max had to lead her up the stairs and show her to the bathroom and handed her, her nightie. Much to Max's surprise 99 came out a bit later in her nightie and a little more sober. Her hand was up to her temple, she groaned as she nearly tripped over the rug, barely finding her side of the bed.

"Oh, Max." she complained, "I have the worst headache!" and she groaned again.
Max wasn't entirely listening he was looking at her and smiling with such love and admiration in his eyes, he wondered how he ever ended with such a perfect woman.
She turned and looked at him and smirked, "What are you smiling about? My head is killing me." She complained.
He smiled and shook his head. "I'm just admiring your beauty." He kissed her on the forehead and turned the light out. Despite her headache 99 was the happiest woman at that moment. To think, she thought, I found the man who would do anything for me, and I would do anything for him. Now these were the last words she thought before falling into a deep happy sleep.
"Wake up!" Someone shouted in 99's ear. She frowned with opening her eyes.
"Max, shut-up." She rolled over.
"I said WAKE-UP!" Despite her thoughts earlier she was really angry with him, she was sleeping so peacefully and she wouldn't have been mad if she had at least said, '99, please wake up.' Or maybe even, 'Wake up please.' Or at least just not screamed at her. She reached over and hit him.
"Ow," he said sulkily, "What was that for?" He said in a truly innocent voice.
She opened her eyes and saw a man standing over her side of the bed holding a gun. "Oh Max, my love. I am sorry." She kissed his cheek and rubbed the side of his face.
*Ahem* The man persisted poking the gun in her face.
"Have you no common decency?" 99 snapped, "Some people are trying to sleep, and don't appreciate, some other people poking guns at them. Really." 99 rolled over and pulled the covers over her head.
"Give me the envelope." He told her pushing the gun to her side, a little too close to her lower back if you asked her.
99 sat up her curiosity aroused. "What envelope?"
"Don't play dumb lady." He pushed the gun further into her side. 99 angrily pushed the gun away.
"Hey, Hey." Max said, coming to her defense. "That's my wife you're talking to. Besides she's not playing dumb, I'm an expert at playing dumb!" He thought about that for a second. "Uh, do you mind if I rephrase that?"
"What envelope?" She repeated, as she turned on the light.
"The one in the." He managed to say before Max took the light on his side, and threw it at him.
"Max," 99 gasped, "You've killed him! Now we'll never know what he was talking about."
"I'm sorry 99, but I need sleep, we'll call KAOS headquarters tomorrow to find out about this envelope is that they're talking about." He leaned over kissed 99's cheek.
"That will never work." She told him with a kind of a smirk.
"Well, I don't see you coming up with any prize-winners yourself, so I wouldn't talk." He said to her and her frown became more noticeable in the dim light that filtered in through their window. The moon was full and bright.

There was no city noise, and 99 couldn't get enough of the acres they owned in the back of their new house. They had moved to Silver Springs, MD so the twins could have a place to run and have animals if the so wished. 99 had been outside a lot, sitting in a tree she liked to climb. Try as he might, Max couldn't figure out why a grown woman wanted to climb trees.
"Maxwell Smart." She said in an upset kind of voice.
He started to retort by saying her full name but realized once again he didn't know her full name let alone any name at all, apart from 99 and Mrs. Smart, of course. He shook his head. "That wasn't fair." 99 gave a small laugh.
"Now that's the man I married." She kissed him. "Listen," she said nicely,
and hintingly, "It's nearly morning and I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep. We could take a walk, or look at the stars?"
"Whatever you say 99." God, he loved that woman. He smiled and stood. He found the hall light, then the stairs, then the living room couch.
"Be careful." She called to him from the kitchen. He turned surprised.
"99? How did you beat me down the stairs?" He opened the kitchen door, She was at the counter pouring some hot coffee into a thermos.
"I don't know Max. What does it matter? You want your usual ten sugars right Max?"
He smiled, "Yes." He went over and grabbed her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder he rocked back and forth.
"What are you doing?" She asked playfully. She screwed the lid on the thermos.
"I just like holding you." He told her giving her midriff an affectionate squeeze. "I couldn't let a day go by with holding the woman I love." She smiled, and thought to herself, I am so lucky to have been fortunate to have this man in love with me. She sighed and kissed him. By the time they made it outside, 99 was in a tight pink top and slacks. Max wore a pair of sweat pants and a muscle shirt (He's soo cute!). 99 ran into the field Max chasing her 'til she reached her tree.
"Coming up." She asked, starting to climb.
"Well the view is spectacular." He said jokingly preparing for 99 to reach down and give him a playful punch in the arm like she always does after he makes jokes like that. He looked up when she didn't. She sat in a nook in between the branch and the trunk. Max decided he'd take his chances with the tree. He took hold of highest up branch he could reach and put his foot on a bottom branch. He reached half way to 99, before one of the branches gave from under of his foot. 99 screamed and Max swung his foot to another branch.
"Oh my God." She shrieked, reaching down to her husband giving him a hand up. She pulled him up, of course he helped her with his available hand and two feet. She put a hand over her heart and let out a long relieved sigh.
"Don't do that do that ever again, Maxwell Smart."
"I'm not as light as you sweetness." He told her holding her close, wanting her touch even more so now. She put her hand over his heart.
"My dearest, your heart is racing did that scare you?" She joked, she thought it very amusing to tease Max. Max thought it was a little daring to tease him in a treetop but you know whatever.
"Look!" 99 exclaimed pointing down at something white down on the mossy forest floor beneath the tree. She carefully lowered herself from branch to branch, with such grace and elegance, he could've cared less about the white thing. He followed her down, a little less gracefully.
She picked it up from the ground and her eyes widened. "It's an envelope." She cried.
"Of course, 99, the old envelope in the weak branch in the tree trick. Ingenious." Max said taking it from her hand and opening it. "99?" He said his own eyes widening. "It's sealed KAOS orders!"
99 shuddered.
"This is terribly unnerving."
She held his shoulders. An arrow shot past them and hit the tree in back of them scaring the wits out of poor 99. She screamed. Max took hold of her hand in his own, and pretty scared himself shouted to her, "Come on 99." And they took off into the woods. A few more arrows followed them not to mention narrowly missing them.
"We can stop now, Max." 99 said terribly out of breath. "We lost them."
"Yeah." Max cried beginning to panic, "And we lost ourselves too!"
"Don't get hysterical on me now." She took his shoulders and looked at his eyes, almost imprinting it into his mind.
"You've got beautiful eyes!" He flirted.
"Max," 99 began, "flattering though that may be. This is neither the time, nor the place. Come on Max." She grabbed his arm and pulled him in further into the woods.
"But, 99" Max was confused, "You said we've lost them?"
"Yes but if we keep going this way, we don't risk running into them on the way back and we'll hit the road eventually, anyway."
"That's why I married you. The body of a goddess, and the brains of a. of a.. of a really smart person." 99 giggled and kissed his cheek.
"You are the cutest." She told him holding his chin in her hands and gave him another kiss. "Let's keep going." She had his arm and she pulled him slightly.
99 looked up, so did Max, "The sun is up." She told him, blocking her eyes from the harmful UV rays of the sun. She blinked incisively. "Let's keep on."
They walked for at least another hour, they saw a small house, a lot smaller than their own (which by the way is pretty big). There was a man sitting on the porch. Max and 99 made the final last-ditch effort over cut down tree trunks and mounds of what they hoped was dirt.
99 practically collapsed on the porch. She groaned and sat on the edge looking at the man.
“Sorry about this, sir.” Max was the one to speak up first.
"Sorry 'bout this." 99 exclaimed trying to save herself, "We've been walking for hours. Someone was chasing us. We live down that way it's the next property over." She pointed in the direction from which the came. "We thought we were the last property before the road."
"Say, where does your property end, anyway?" Max asked.
"You just stepped off of your property before all those logs, and the compost piles."
99 turned to Max and whispered, "So that's what that was." 99 had tripped and got 'dirt' all over the knees of her slacks, not to mention her left sleeve was ripped from a close call with one of those arrows.
"We were looking for the road. But we're so exhausted, may we rest just a moment." 99 pleaded. "I just can't go on without resting." She sat there giving him the lip. The puppy dog face, the works. The same face that 99 uses when she wants something from Max.
The man looked at the envelope in Max's hand and smiled welcomingly. "Yes please come in. Little lady we've got some clothes for you."
99 looked surprised but ever so grateful, she'd rather wear anything than what she had on, besides she was pretty sure her bra was showing in the back, Max kept looking at her back. She jumped up the steps two at a time and into the room the man showed her too. There was a double bed a closet and another door. She opened the closet and couldn't believe what she saw, there were dresses, and pants and just everything.
She pulled out a pair of flair jeans and a T-shirt with a cat silhouette.-- She closed the closet and forgot which door was the one to the hallway. "Let's see? Hmm." She pointed to both the doors repeatedly and pondered over it. She finally came to the conclusion that the one on the left was the one that led to the hallway. She opened the door, and gasped with horror. She slammed the door shut. She opened it again just to see if it weren't just her eyes playing tricks on her. It wasn't, she'd been afraid of that. Behind the second door was a room filled with KAOS equipment. The symbol of the big ugly bird in top of the world, stared out at her. She was unable to look away until a noise out in the hallway made her close the door quickly. It was only Max.
"What's taking so long?" He looked in. "Darn, you have all your clothes on. You do look stunning though."
"Thank you, Max." She thought she ought not get caught by telling Max, God knows she loves him but god also knows how he can get carried away with trying to look inconspicuous. "Shall we?"
Max hooked his arm on hers, "We shall." He answered, the entered the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. The man, who's name happened to be Robert Kranscroffski, smiled at 99 and Max in turn.
99 smiled back wondering how long she could go on without trying to pull a weapon of some sort. After all, CONTROL agents are supposed to take all KAOS agents into custody, although on the other hand. It could be someone else in his house after all he did have all that women's clothing.
"Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, I presume." Robert said. Max was about to object but 99 kissed his cheek and whispered inconspicuously
"Play along, he may be KAOS. Don't say anything." She smiled, and took the plate handed to her.
"Newlyweds?" He asked using his knife to cut through his chicken. He smiled but didn't look up.
"No," 99 said holding onto Max's arm and smiling, "It was our anniversary yesterday, our tenth." She started cutting off little pieces of her chicken and sticking them into Max's mouth. She was afraid he'd give them away. Every time he opened his mouth she stuck food into it. She got very little of her chicken and Max looked sick.
"You haven't touched any of your chicken."
"I've had too much of yours." He groaned. "You can have it 99."
"Now," Robert said after 99 had eaten Max's chicken. "Let's get down to business a couple of KAOS agents such as yourselves know promptness is an important factor in succeeding, Let me see the envelope.
Max stood up holding a gun, "Hold right there, don't move and don't make a move for a weapon. 99 take his knife away."
99, almost as surprised as Robert, stood and did as she was told, "Where's your gun?" She demanded.
"The bureau. top drawer." He breathed heavily. "In the blue underwear." 99 groaned.
"Do I have to, Max?" she whined. Max nodded. "Well how about if we both go? No? How about you go and I stay here? No again? Just me, huh? Fine." She finally stomped away and got the gun she came back holding it with her fingertips.
She held it on him, she leaned over to Max, "Where'd you have your gun?"
"I had it in the secret pocket at the bottom of my sweatpants." He told her.
"Of course," she said, "The old pocket in the bottom of your sweatpants trick. KAOS fell for that just last week."
"OK tell us about the." she stopped in mid-sentence and her face turned pale. She burped put her hand to her mouth and rushed out of the room and sounds of 99 being sick could be heard. She came back in looking positively green.
She was doubled over and clutching her stomach in anguish. She groaned, and fell to the floor. Max was watching her wide eyed as she twisted and writhed around.
"99 are you OK?" Max bent down and Robert tried to run away, luckily 99 reached her foot out and he tripped and hit his head on the wall, knocking him out.
"Max." she moaned, she clutched her stomach and turned on her side, "I'm gonna vomit again!?!" Some men rushed in through the back door.
"Come on 99!" He shouted, 99 protested and he pulled her on her side and then hauled her up and held her arm and waist and she had no choice but to run with him. She whined and whimpered all the way out the door. They stepped off the porch and Max saw a helicopter above the house. A man was sticking his head out of the helicopter. He pulled out his gun and was shooting at them.

Max pulled harder on 99's arm and called out to her, "Don't quit on me now." But indeed, even with 99's vomiting fit, she was pulling him. The dashed over the logs and over the compost piles. As they ran through the woods they could see the helicopter following their every move. Max tripped and stumbled but 99 kept a firm grasp on his hand and didn't let him fall. 99 stomach was better and in only about a half an hour 99 could see the tree she new they were practically home-free.
"Max hurry." She yelled letting go of his hand and running faster than Max had seen anyone run, ever. He took off after her knowing that she was one of the hardest targets to hit, and also knowing that even though he could run pretty fast, he was still a pretty easy target.
"Max!" 99 shouted wide-eyed from their basement door, that was covered by their terrace.
He stumbled inside just as 99 slammed the door shut. They both sighed with relief. 99 backed against the wall and slid down and Max let himself fall to the floor resting his head on 99's lap.
She looked down at him he was laying on the floor in a ball, practically and nesting his head in her lap. She reached down and ran her hand through his hair. He looked at her and her eyes sparkled, her smile dazzled him beyond his wildest dreams, she leaned down and kissed his cheek. He lifted himself up, he sat next to her burying his head in her chest.
"I love you." He told her. She opened her mouth to say something, but he put his finger to her lips and gave her a long kiss. He pulled away and 99 smiled at him.
"I love you, too." She replied, They spent the rest of the day and most of the night in those exact same positions, they were too tense and sore to get up. Besides to get to their room they had to climb two flights of stairs. Stay there they would've except that the both of them were frozen and they needed food and water. They'd gone twelve or so hours without food and well to say the least, they were hungry. It was one o' clock at night and they were tired too they finally made it up the first set of stairs by leaning on each other all the way up. They opened the refrigerator and just pulled out a number of various items. They concluded their evening sprawled on the couch not wanting to make the effort upstairs. They were reaching over with their eyes closed trying to put the food in each other's mouth. 99 was awaken when Max accidentally knocked her off the couch. She made her way into the kitchen and made coffee. She put a cup on a saucer for herself and one for Max too. She walked out and sat next to Max. She put her saucer and cup down on the table and gave Max's shoulder a shake. He woke up and smiled at 99 in his usual adoring way, she handed him the coffee, he sat up and held the saucer with two hands.

"99, is there."
"Yes Max," she interrupted, "The usual ten sugars." Every time she brought or made him coffee, he'd ask if it had ten sugars like he liked. And when she replied, 'Yes the usual ten sugars' he usually smiled and said, 'you know me so well.'
"You know me so well." He told her taking a sip. She smiled and gave a small laugh. He sat up his eyes drooping. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing." She told him still giggling.
"Come on." She shook her head. He scooched over to her and put his hands on her sides. He started tickling her and she squirmed and jumped up, Max reached for her and stumbled off the couch. 99 laughed out loud and Max jumped up and bolted after her. He chased her into the dining room, through the twins' playroom and the other rooms until they circled back into the living room. 99 started up the stairs but Max lunged at her and knocked her over on the stairs. He dragged himself up, he leaned over her his hands on either side of her neck and said: "Tell me!"

She was still in stitches and needed time to catch her breath, "I knew you would say that!" She rolled on her side and Max fell over her and lay next to her for a whole five minutes.
"Max." She laughed she reached over and put her hand on his chest. "We oughta do this more often,"
"Let's make sure the twins aren't here," He placed his hand on her stomach, which was inhaling and exhaling rapidly along with his own. "Remember the shock they went through, the first time they saw us kiss."
"How could I forget?" 99 smiled, "Nearly killed the little angels." She turned to him, and sighed. "Little devils." She said softly.
Max went into hysterics again. He rolled over and kissed her. She pulled back when she heard a noise on the front porch. There was a knock and they both stood up, she brushed herself off. There was an awful lot of lint adorning her clothes. "Remind me to vacuum the stairs."
"99, open the door, I'm freezing my butt off out here!" 99 gasped! She ran up the stairs, and slammed her door. Max ran up after her.
"99?" He closed the door behind him. "What are you doing?" He sat on the bed next to her.
She laid back on the bed and sighed again, "That was my sister, all through my youth that woman was."
"Hold on, Hold on." Max stopped her. "How come you never told me you had a sister."
"I told you about my sister." She said a teeny bit annoyed. She frowned.
"Oh yeah? Well if you have a sister, then how come she didn't come to our wedding?" Max asked inquisitively.
"She's a Control agent and she was stationed in Pittsburgh and couldn't come." She explained.
"Well, she must have done something horrible."
"Why do you say that?" 99 asked.
"Well she'd have to do something horrible to be stationed in Pittsburgh."
99 sighed. "Horrible sister or not, you'd better let her in."
She sighed another long sigh, "Fine." She walked downstairs and opened the door.
Her sister shuffled in and went straight to hugging 99. Max took the stairs two at a time and he was buttoning up his jacket. She smiled at him she elbowed her lightly in the side. "You always did have a way with men didn't you 99? And he has a wedding ring. You fox."
"Well yes he has a wedding ring. So do I!" She was easily getting annoyed.
She gasped with a smile. "Cheating on your husband?" She was holding onto her arm.
99 jerked out of her grasp and walked over to Max and draped herself on his shoulders, "Max is my husband." She kissed his neck. The only thing she has ever been able to rub in her face was that she was better with men than her snob of a sister.
"So 79, what brings you here?" 99 demanded.
She pulled out an envelope, she handed it to her, "Those are the previous inhabitants of your house, it was a KAOS headquarters. They left a good deal of information in here before the police shut them down in '72. The fact that you live here is purely coincidental. You don't think I came to visit you on my own free will?"
99 sneered, "If you're going to be a snob you might as well leave, besides we're picking up our kids at the airport, they're staying with mother."
79 narrowed her eyes, 99 was getting to her with the fact she was married and had kids. "You have kids?"
"Yes, we have two little bundles of Joy, nine years old going on ten. And did you know yesterday was our anniversary? Out tenth. Tenth. You've never even had a boyfriend for more than three months. If I recall your longest standing relationship was two months and uh. 22 days."
"Yes well little sister, do not neglect that I have seniority over you." She reminded.
"And not to mention you'll be on Medicare eleven years before me."
Max started to notice the tension between the women and obviously he's on 99's side. He noticed how her eyes raged when 99 held his shoulders.
He put his hand on 99's and squeezed it. 99 just looked at her with her best, 'I'm better than you' stare.
"Bye." 79 glared before she left.
"Well, 99 we oughta get this down to headquarters!" Max reminded pulling the envelope out of his pocket. 99 took it out of his hand and turned it over, and stuck her thumb under the seal.
Max screamed, "NO, you can't open that." He went to take it from her but she pulled away from him.
"What harm could it do?" 99 protested breaking the rest of the seal open.
"OH MY GOD!"
"What is it?" Max panicked and backed up and tripped over the couch and without grace sprang back up and hugged 99 with fear.
"Nothing." She giggled. He knocked her over, 99 laughed and wiggled out of his grasp. "We already had our giggle fits for the day."
"As long as it's open, there's no harm in reading it I suppose." Max said getting close to her like when he's scared. "Go on, 99!"
She pulled out four pieces of paper. Her eyes widened. "Max! This is a map of the new KAOS headquarters, the key to breaking the KAOS code, and all the agents on our side who are double agents."
"What's the last one?" He picked up the last piece of paper, she took it out of his hand. "Give it over." She held it out of his reach and kept him away by a hand on his chest.
"You really wanna know?" He nodded, "It's the KAOS salary." 99 curled her lip.
"Wow, is that how much they get paid? 99 have you ever thought of going over to the other side." She shook her head. "OK but we're missing out."
99 kissed him, and he pulled her closer and they kissed again, the door opened, too quietly for them to hear it.

"Oh, isn't this cozy?" 99 turned and in Max's arms she stood stunned watching as 79 held a gun on her.
"Hand over the information."
"You'll have to go through me." Max pushed 99 in back of him.
"With more pleasure than you know. KAOS told me to do whatever it takes to retrieve that information. And I will even if it means killing my baby sister's hubby. Thus killing her. Say good-bye 86."
"NO!?!" 99 jumped in front of her with her own gun and shot 79. 79's gun went off getting 99 in the shoulder. 99 fell to the floor she lay next to her sister. Max got down on his knees and cried, he held 99's shoulder and, decided it would be better to call for help, rather than her die of blood loss. He picked up his shoe phone and called an ambulance. The ambulance got there in no time at all, but for 99 it probably felt like an eternity. When the ambulance got there they went straight for 79, but Max protested, "This one," He was still holding 99, "Has priority."

Max and 99 left in the first ambulance and 79 was picked up by the second one. Later in the hospital, after 99 regained conciseness.
"You saved my life, 99." Max was holding her hand and she was just glad to be alive. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." She smiled and watched his face. "You would've done the same for me. Any word on 79 yet?"
"No, but the doctor said he'd let us know just as soon as he could." They talked for a while, happy though 99 was to be alive and only shot in the shoulder, she was worried about her sister.
The doctor came in and addressed 99, "Well Mrs. Smart, that's a nasty wound. I'm going to give you some pills for the pain. You're going to have to take it easy for a couple weeks. Also before you leave we'll get you a sling. No straining that arm, you hear?" He was about to leave after 99 nodded in agreement.
"Wait," she called, "What about my sister?" She sat up, waiting, anticipating.
"I'm sorry. She didn't make it." 99's mouth was slightly open, and her eyes were glossy.
"99?" He put his hand on her shoulder, "Are you OK? . 99? Are you OK?"
She shrugged and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I killed my sister." She said staring blankly at the wall. "MY SISTER." She held her face in her hands and shook her head. "I shot my sister! Max, do you really think that I would be OK?" She yelled.
A person walking past in the hall jumped, when 99 yelled. She leaned over and laid her head in his lap and cried. He stroked her hair and cried, too. Though he couldn't help being glad it was 79 and not him.
"It'll be alright. You wouldn't feel this way if it was an ordinary KAOS agent. You were just doing you job sweetheart. This isn’t your fault, you have to understand that!" She knew as long she had Max, everything would be alright..
"Max." 99 called wandering through the lower floor and looking about, then she hollered up the stairs but didn't see him. Hmm she thought, where'd he get off too?
"99!" Max yelled, she looked around and still didn't see him.
"Right here Max!" she yelled back. He came in out of breath through the front door.
"I got the mail." He choked out in between gasps for air. "Agents weekly came you've got the cover!"
"What?" 99 took it from his outstretched arm. Indeed there was a picture of herself staring black at her from a 2-demensional picture.
"What?" She repeated.
"They did a story on you, and you won an award too." Max took it again and flipped through the pages and handed it back. She read the article:
Agent 99 of the Washington Control agents, is hereby named agent of the year. She uncovered information vital to our nation and turned it in to HQ. Not only that but in the insurance of a safe return of her husband and herself had to shoot, or be shot. Which she was, in the shoulder, but the other person, a double agent, and her sister (no name given) didn't make it through.
And it went on. 99 looked at the center of the magazine and held it the right way.
"What'd you know, they used my picture for the centerfold!" Max took it from her.
"You look hot." He said examining it. "You know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna take it out carefully and have it framed."
"Framed?"
"Yes, and we'll hang it in the hall right .. There!"
"Oh Max." she said lovingly and held his waist and stood there for a moment.
"I love you."
"I love you too."