All Sharp Like Fox Teeth: Volume Two – Chapter 3 – quicksylver28

Reading Time:
22 Minutes

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“Didn’t think a town this small would have a Trader Joe’s.” Tony hummed as he browsed the aisle, grabbing a jar off the shelf and absently reading the label.

The store was bright and lit in that golden light that spoke of wealth and smelled like fresh baked bread. The aisles were spacious and the displays neat and stacked with precision. Well dressed and nimble employees zipped around like happy little worker bees, friendly smiles on all of their faces while the shelves were dark stained wood, stocked with a wide variety of brands that straddled the line between fancy and fanciful.

Stiles leaned on the handle bar of the cart, his whiskey eyes sharp as he took in everything. “It’s mostly here for the conference tourists and the boutique hotels spotted around Beacon County. They built it out here because most of the wealthier locals have houses nearby and it’s close enough to the lake with all the vacation houses there.”

He snagged a jar of Biscoff cookies off the shelf and after a nod from Tony, grinned and flipped it into the cart. “Anyone worth anything around here has a car good enough to handle the mountain roads and after that it’s just an hour’s drive to get here… tops.”

He took the jar of jalapeno peppers Tony handed him and placed it in the cart with a pleased hum. “I came here with Lydia once and told myself I would never come back on my own volition… my wallet would never recover. All of us plebes who are not the local hoi polloi are stuck with the kwik-i-mart on the boulevard and the weekend farmers’ market off Cranston Park for our sustenance.”

He picked up a pack of something bright and colourful and took a sniff at the lining. “We technically have a Walmart too, but it’s a two hour drive to the border of Alameda County. Turns out the marine base was a bigger draw compared to the paltry fare we have even at the height of tourist season.”

Tony hummed and handed the teen two packs of pine nuts. “As a future member of the local hoi polloi, I promise to still be right there with you, elbow to elbow, on BOGO days and in-season flash sales. We’ll make our Walmart runs into fun road trips.”

The teen chuckled. “Thanks, Babbo.”

Tony and Stiles kept talk light as they walked the aisles, picking up a few things for the dinner Tony had planned. The afternoon had already been filled with heavier discussion, more in depth planning with Shelby. They’d gone through a second coffee pot hashing out all the details and even though asking the harder questions caused a bit of discomfort; they had all been left feeling on a more even keel. The Asian woman had declined to stay for lunch and made her goodbyes to Stiles and Noah while Tony checked the soup and put the garlic bread in the oven to crisp up.

By the time Mac had returned with desert and a half dozen piping hot Butter Fried Shrimp Bombs, the garlic bread had been toasted and the salad tossed with some heart healthy vinigrette that had languished in the fridge. Giving it a taste and making a face, Tony had added a few more ingredients and whipped it up into something even the sheriff had made pleased noises about. They’d set the small four seater kitchen table and ate, keeping the conversation easy and full of funny law enforcement anecdotes.

Mac then proceeded to push her high metabolism to the limit by demolishing all six bombs while Tony, Stiles and the Sheriff could only watch with a mix of awe, disgust, respect and a hefty amount of fear.

“Thanks for the recommend, kid.” The dark skinned woman had sat back with a deep satisfied sigh afterwards, the expression on her face one of indulgence as she nodded. “I’d take a trip back out here just for that alone.”

Tony had only shook his head in exasperation as both Stilinski men sang the woman’s praises. Agent Hargrove turned up not much later, ready to take Mac back to the hotel to collect her bag and head back to Alameda for the flight back to Washington. Tony hugged his fellow agent at the door.

“Thank you for having my six on this one, Deborah Jean.”

“It was my pleasure, Anthony Sebastian.” She huffed against his shoulder, he could just imagine her eye roll at his use of her government names. “Payback for when you yanked my ass out of the line of fire during the Donnelly Cult case. I’d be a picture on a wall right now if it wasn’t for you.”

Tony gave her one last squeeze before stepping back. “Well, you were the first person I’d ever seen take down a perp using a spinning kick like Chun Lee from Street Fighter. I told myself that you were someone I wanted to know better and I couldn’t let you take a bullet in the back from some crazy asshole after that level of Bad Ass Muther…”

“Shut yo’ Mouth!”

“Look out for the invite to my house warming.” Tony intoned as Mac threw back her head with a laugh. “I’ll have learned how to recreate the unholy shrimp bombs without flirting with a heart attack by then.”

“Worth it though.” Mac patted her flat stomach. “I look forward to seeing how yours compare.”

The sheriff also ducked out soon after, needing to check in with the deputies on duty once more but promising to be home in time for dinner. Tony stood back and watched both Stilinski men hug it out, pushing back the talk that he ahd Noah needed to have.

Neither of them were in the right frame of mind to talk about Vegas and the town’s kooky history could wait a little longer. Even though the investigator in him wanted answers, the sniper Gibbs had trained into him knew the value of patience.

Stiles gave him a tour of the house, the filling the silence with a ramble of facts and subject jumps as he flailed his way around adorably. Tony just follwed, a small indulgent smile on his face as he listened to the constant stream of words. They spent some time at Stiles’ desk, checking out the local real estate listings Lorenna Martin had emailed, the teen still in visible awe as Tony reinterated his invatation to go house hunting together.

“I want it to be your home as much as here is, Kiddo. That means we choose together.” Tony had ruffled the boy’s dark hair, making it stand up wildly. The teen ducked away with a mock cry, finger combing his hair as he rolled his computer chair away from the laughing older man.

Eventually Stiles got a bit ansty and began cleaning, something he’d always done under stress. Seeing as the possiblilty of a nap was slim to none in the boy’s immediate future, Tony had just given a soft sigh and started to help tidy up the house. They ran loads of laundry, changed out bed sheets and bath towels, took out the garbage, ran the dish washer twice and emptied out the vacuum three times before Stiles sank to the couch with a huge sigh.

Seeing the teen’s face start to frown the longer he sat in silence, Tony quickly got to talking about dinner and making a list of what they needed. That got them into an in depth discussion about the alternate shrimp bomb recipe that had Tony taking his laptop out and setting them both into research mode. Seeing the teen relax in his skin as he delved into internet forums and copycat recipe sites, Tony bit back a smile and went to the kitchen to whip up a snack for them both.

He found a half empty bag of corn tortillas which he cut up and fried until crispy and topped it with the rest of the three bean and corn salad from lunch and a bag of shredded pepper jack cheese found stuffed to the back of the fridge. A few minutes in the oven to melt the cheese and they were set.

They settled on to the couch with the nachos, some water and the laptop for a note taking session of recipe options which eventually reverted back to the pros and cons of each house they’d seen. He’d made an appointment with Lorenna for the next day to visit all the ones they green lit. Hopefully, the sheriff would be free to come along to at least a couple of places. Though he still didn’t know for sure where he stood with the other man, he wanted to include him in every aspect of his presence in his son’s life.

Technically… legally… Noah had every right to try to block Tony’s presence in his son’s life and force the matter to the courts. The fact that he didn’t show any objection and even opened up their home to Tony’s arrival showed how much he loved Stiles and wanted to make him happy. For that, Tony was grateful.

After filling up an entire yellow legal pad of notes, sketches and lists, Tony sent Stiles up to get washed up and dressed to go shopping. There was no way the kid was leaving the house in that ratty lacrosse jersey and sweat pants. Clothes made the man, even if those clothes were a flannel shirt over a printed tee and jeans.

Tony made a couple of calls while the teen was upstairs, checking in with his people back east and sending a few text messages and emails. He would deal with the rest back at the hotel later. Both Rocky and Aaron were glad to hear from him while Brad was his usual charming self over text.

The dinner menu would be baked Turkey Parmigiana; a fresh Panzanella salad with charred crostini, juicy tomatos and red onions; a zucchini lasagna loaf stuffed with mozzarella cheese and for desert – Biscoff butter drizzled pignoli cookies. Whiskey eyes had shone bright as they sat at the kitchen table scribbling a quick list and went wide as they walked to the gun metal grey Range Rover parked at he curb.

“This is nice.” Stiles hissed as he walked around the SUV before hopping into the shot gun seat, wiggling his butt into the leather and pulling his seat belt. “This is really nice.”

Tony laughed as he gunned the engine. “Perk of taking the president’s suite for a week, I guess. The hotel the FBI got for us was abysmal and would have been hell on my lungs so I upgraded to the Mariott. Good thing too… the views are incredible and the breakfast buffet is a solid six out of ten for the variety.”

“A whole six…? So generous.” Stiles grinned.

“When you’ve travelled as much as I have, you’ll understand that a six is pretty high as far as ratings go. And that’s mainly on the back of the reindeer sausages.”

“Oh yeah… those.” Stiles nodded sagely, his gaze going distant as he stared out of the window. “They’re real big on hunting around here.”

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Tony felt the teen go still beside him before hearing the sharp inhale that immediately set him into Agent mode and had his eyes up and wary. He followed the boy’s gaze down the aisle to where a man was examining a bottle of red wine, a shopping basket in the crook of his elbow. He was he was handsome and looked to be around Tony’s age, wearing a white v-neck sweater and a higher end brand of jeans. The stubble on his chin added an edge to him which was softened by carefully styled hair.

“Ah… Stiles.” the man looked up, a look of surprise flashing over his face before settling into a pleasant PR smile. His gaze flitted from the teen to Tony then back, interest sparking in his eyes. “I haven’t seen you around the old crowd in a while…”  He looked at Tony once again, this time longer as he took a deep inhale. “… and who is this? … distant relative, I presume?”

“Something like that.” Stiles gritted out through a clenched jaw. Tony took a subtle step forward, putting himself between the teen and the handsome stranger whose very presence seemed to upset him. He felt a sliver of hurt that Stiles didn’t clarify their relationship just then but he saw how tense the boy had become and ruthlessly pushed the emotion down in order to stay alert and ready.

“Really?”

The handsome man tilted his head like a dog as he studied them both, taking a deep and exaggerated breath that had Stiles’ hand coming up to grip Tony’s sleeve. That ramped Tony up to active alert and he itched to reach for his belt. Too bad he wasn’t an agent anymore and no longer carried a weapon. He would feel better if he had his side arm. Especially when the man’s smiled widened and turned smug as if he’d discovered some secret.

“How very interesting.”

Ugh. The smarm. Still had his knife though.

Small comfort in the middle of a very public place. With state of the art CCTV cameras. Rats.

“This relative have a name?”

Stiles curled his lip. “This is…”

“Anthony.” Tony cut in, a charming smile spreading across his face. “Nice to meet you…” he trailed off… waiting.

“Peter.” The other man’s gaze went to where the teen’s hand was clenched in the fabric of Tony’s sleeve before slowly sliding back up Tony’s body to his face. “Charmed…”

“I’m sure.” Tony murmured dryly, ignoring the leer. He gave his watch a blatant glance then met Peter’s eyes without guile.

The man was clever enough to pick up the hint quickly, giving them a slight bow as he placed the wine bottle into his basket.

“I do hope to see you around more, Anthony. Our little town has a lot to offer someone who knows what to look for. I’m available to act as local tour guide if you so wish. My family had lived in this town for more than a century and I can know where to find ALL of the Hills’ little secrets. Stiles can vouch for me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Tony hummed indifferently, his eyes narrowing at the third once over the man gave him. He really was a bit shameless wasn’t he? It was overt flirtation but not genuine attraction… a tool to throw both Tony and Stiles off balance in different ways; and while Tony appreciated the skill as an undercover agent himself, the protective parent in him felt nothing but ire at the smug bastard.

“Maybe some other time then…” that PR smile turned into a corporate smile as those sharp eyes shifted to over Tony’s shoulder. “I will be seeing you around, Stiles.”

Father and son stood still as Peter meandered his way to the next aisle, taking a few moments of Tony’s arm around Stiles’ thin shoulder as the boy tried to steady his rapid breathing and racing heart. When the teen eventually calmed down, Tony rubbed comforting circle into his back and spoke in a soft voice.

“Want to talk about what just happened?”

“Not now…” Stiles glanced around, “… not here.” The boy shook his head sharply.

“Ok. Later then.” Tony acquiesced easily, knowing when to fight his battles; then made a face. “Still want to smack that smarmy grin off his face though.”

That startled a chuckle out of the teen and he lifted his eyes to meet his dad’s, his gaze was grateful and a bit fearful; as if he was afraid of Tony turning away from him for some reason.

“Thanks.” The word was almost silent but Tony heard it with his sharp hearing. He gave the boy one last squeeze before easing away to grab the cart.

“Anytime, Mimmo.”

A few minutes later Peter gave them a sassy finger wave at check out before slipping out of the store but Tony had already taken a couple of pictures of the man’s face and side profile. He also got the man’s last name from the teen. Hale. Peter Hale. He would send the pictures and the name off to Kevin at the FBI if the later conversation with Stiles went a certain way. There was already something hinky going on with the guy as that particular name had popped up a few times in the various police reports he’d skimmed.

The drive back home was quiet and pensive but Stiles rallied well enough as they got into the motions of cooking, smiling and chatting as they bustled around the small kitchen. Tony had also bought new matching aprons which they both cheerfully donned, talking and laughing as they showed off dance moves to the local radio station.

The sheriff came home to the smell of baking cheese, a smile spreading on his exhausted face. Stiles promptly sent him up for a shower and change while Tony snuck him one the rich almond and crunchy pine nut cookies. Noah had given him a wink and a smile that had Tony flushing red and fanning himself. At least the hot kitchen gave his pink cheeks an excuse in front of Stiles’ curious gaze.

Noah looked good in civvies. Really good. Delicious even. A white henley, worn almost see through from washing, pushed up to his elbows and faded jeans that hugged his firm body really well.

Tony leered at him surreptitiously as the man took over setting the table, ogling his ass as he leaned over to put down cutlery. He ducked behind a nearby wall to give himself a stern talking too as he adjusted himself. Down boy. Now was so not the time for the Horny Dumbass to make an appearance. This was the first family dinner with just the three of them. He wanted to keep it simple and enjoyable, hopefully setting the pace for future meals together.

They set upon the food as eager as Stiles had been back in Washington,  singing Tony’s praises as they all but wiped out the generous spread. So much for left overs. He would have to plan accordingly when shopping and cooking. He already had a plan in his head for freezer meals and pantry staples that the two Stilinski men could whip up and eat in no time.

Soon after clean up, Stiles started flagging, his messed up sleep schedule still affecting his energy levels. Tony and Noah traded smiles at the teen trying to fight yet another yawn, a wordless agreement passing between them. Tony prepped a mug of spiced milk and a couple of the pignoli cookies while Noah shepherded the sleepily protesting boy up the stairs.

By the time, Tony joined them in the teen’s bedroom, Stiles had changed into a threadbare army ranger tee and boxers and was being tucked into bed by and indulgent sheriff. Seeing the boy’s adorable indignant expression at war with his shy smile and jaw cracking yawns, Tony’s chest was filled too bursting with affection. So freaking adorable.

Stiles hummed around the rim of the mug, pleased with the bedtime snack; thoroughly enjoying the attention from both his dads despite childishly complaining to the contrary. It took Noah giving him a patented “Sheriff Dad” look and a gently hand running through his hair to settle the teen.

“Good Night, Mimmo.” Tony spoke softly.

“Good night Babbo, good night Dad…” Stiles gave them both a grin, “Good night, Sparky.”

Tony shook his head at the sesame street reference, a wide smile on his face.

“Go to sleep, kiddo.”

It didn’t take long for Stiles to lose the fight with the sandman, snuffling into his pillow as he curled to his side. It felt a bit creepy for the two older men to stand in silence, watching their son sleep but there was now where Tony would rather be at that very moment. Eventually, Noah tilted his head towards the door and Tony followed. Guess it was time for a talk.

“You sure you don’t want to take the guest room?” Noah leaned on the kitchen counter while Tony packed away the rest of the cookies and checked the kitchen one last time. “Stiles loves having you here.”

“I love being here with him… with you. But I can’t.” Tony shook his head, turning to fully face the older man. “Not until we’ve talked through a few things first.”

Noah hummed, straightening up until he stood at attention; a contrite look on his face “I guess I do owe you a conversation. Or a few.”

“Damn right you do.” Tony scoffed. “I’d rather not get into what happened in Vegas right now. That can of worms needs at least three therapy sessions until I can talk to you about that without punching your lights out. And remember to act surprised when I do.”

He tossed the rag he’d been holding over the lip of the kitchen sink. “We need to talk about what happened with Stiles and the serial killer. I know he’d rather not discuss it with me and it would be better for everyone that his mandated therapist take the lead in navigating that trauma. I don’t think either of us have the tools necessary to properly help him without our emotions getting the better of us.”

He licked his lips, “But what I do know, as a law enforcement officer and federal investigator with almost two decades of experience under my belt, is that the continued patch job on your official reports are as crappy as my scarred lung tissue. I’m not sure how any of those got approved and signed off by the higher ups, but they are either incompetent as fuck or covering up something big. I am going to need you to tell me which is it so I know where to go from here.”

At Noah’s silence, Tony’s jaw clenched. “Talk to me Noah. What the hell is going on in this town?”

He took a deep breath, feeling a twinge in his lungs.

“And how does it involve our son?”

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Noah stood on the porch with a steaming mug of hot chocolate as Tony got into the Range Rover and started the engine. Tonight would be a night of research back at the hotel. The investigator in him was already jumpy like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs at the amount of secrets being keep in this small town. If he was really going to settle down here and build a new life, he’d have to find a way to live with the mystery… for now. At least until he gained enough trust with both Stilinski men to be read into the full story.

The conversation with Noah had been tense and ended with more questions than answers but Tony was in for a penny and a pound by now and would see it through to the end. Stiles deserved that. He deserved it.

Noah had admitted easily to the ‘creative’ reporting, throwing Tony off his offence with a tired sigh. “You think I don’t know what my reports look like?”

The man looked like he’d aged by ten years in an instant, his shoulders sagging as the his face settled into resignation. Tony swallowed heavily, itching for something to do… something to keep himself busy during the next few minutes. This felt like standing on the edge of a precipice and he wasn’t sure, for a few long moments, if he really wanted to find out what lay beyond. But he needed to… for Stiles. To protect his son, he needed to know what was really happening under all the secrets.

He started on some stove top Mexican hot chocolate, feeling Noah’s steady gaze on him as he searched the cupboards for mugs and spices. He set the pot of milk on the stove and lit the burner, waiting for the other man to speak. He could still feel the other man’s gaze on the side of his face as he sorted ingredients.

“Nothing about any of those cases lined up. Witness changed their statements or they disappeared altogether. Physical evidence contradicted what we saw with our own eyes.” The other man’s voice was soft and empty of emotion. “Every time we thought we had something solid, it would fall apart.”

Tony scooped the cocoa into the milk and added a handful of dark chocolate chips he’d found in the pantry. “That’s exactly when you bring in the FBI. You had a serial killer kidnapping townsfolk and killing in what looked like ritual sacrifice who then suddenly changed MO into a spree killer. That’s when you call in the BAU.”

Noah shrugged. “You call the FBI when you’ve got something they can work with. I didn’t.”

Tony gave him a look. “Or maybe you didn’t want them here.”

“Maybe.” Noah made a sound that wasn’t denial or admittance. “You bring in outside agencies, they don’t leave.” He rolled his tired shoulders with a wince. “They start asking questions you can’t answer. They pull on threads that don’t go anywhere… can’t go anywhere… except through people who’ve already been through too damn much.”

The older man took the mugs and started wiping them with a clean dish cloth. “So I did what I could with what I had to contain it… to keep things from getting worse. And trust me… they could have been so much worse.”

It was no apology or explanation… but a kind of justification. In the man’s eyes, at least.

“Even if it meant writing reports that don’t hold up? Even if it meant keeping it in house?” Tony demanded softly, pausing when something on Noah’s face clicked in Tony mind. “ … because… our son was in the middle of that.”

“Yeah. He was.”  Noah’s steady gaze was piercing  “… and he still is.”

Tony leaned against the counter and let his head fall forward. He was utterly sick to death of ‘keeping things in house.’ He’d had enough of that with Gibbs back in DC… he really didn’t want to face that here. But Noah didn’t seem like a man who keep secrets due to pride or hubris; for all that Tony had known him for less than a week all together. There was something else there. Something happening that would make a good law man prevaricate on his official reports.

This really was some serious Sunnydale level hinky shit. Fuck.

Part of Tony quailed against diving deeper but he had to know. If he wanted to live here and build a life with his boy. He had to know. He exhaled sharply and took the pot off the fire, sharing the thick chocolate between both mugs and adding some mini marshmallows. They drank in silence for a while… both men lost in their own thoughts.

Noah hummed in delight around the rim of his mug before breaking the silence. “I know that you want to keep digging into what happened here. I expect that from your reputation as a federal agent and investigator.”

He chuckled dryly at Tony’s surprised gaze. “You’re not the only who did a bit of background reading, Very Special Agent DiNozzo.”

Jesus. The man could make something flush warm in his chest with just a few words. Even now.

“You won’t let it go. And I won’t stop you. But let me warn you now… you’re going to find things that don’t make sense. That can’t make sense… ” Noah set the empty mug aside and ran a hand down his weary face. “And when you do… I need you to understand something first … both as a LEO and as a father…”

His gaze was serious as the grave as he met and held Tony’s, the silence in the kitchen thick between them. “… not everything in this town gets better when you shine a light on it.”

Tony looked back, searching the other man’s face for something… anything that could shed light on the man’s thoughts. But the sheriff was a steel trap, giving nothing after such a warning. Tony eventually nodded, leaving it at the for now. He’d been in enough interrogations to know that he’d get nothing else tonight.

He’d been given permission to look deeper. He’d also been given a warning. Proceed at his own risk. If he wanted the whole truth… he’d better be ready for the truth he ended up finding. It was a daunting thought… but Tony had never backed down from the truth, even when he was in the deepest pits of self-denial.

He had to know. For good or for bad. For Stiles. And whatever it was he was wrapped up in.

Back at the hotel, he pulled out his laptop and opened up a password secured folder, ready to go through once again all the files he’d managed to collect in the short time he’d had. Taking a sip of his tea, he pulled out his phone and made a call. When it connected, he spoke.

“Hey Rocky… I need a favour on the down low, hermano.”

“Sure, Tones… anything you need.”

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